U 


WITH   P'U  AND   HIS   BRIGANDS 


v    > 


LI  YEX-TS'ING  AND  HRIDE. 

Married  Tuesday,  March  14,  1922. 

\\'ith  Mrs.  Howard  Taylor  standing  behind. 

This  is  the  devoted  Kvangclist  who  voluntarily  accompanied  Dr.  and  Mi 
Howard  Taylor  when  the  Brigands  carried  them  off.     I'lease  pray  for  him. 


Hrontis/*  ice 


pu 

AND  HIS  BRIGANDS 


BY 

MRS.  HOWARD  TAYLOR 

AUTHOR  OF 

"PASTOR  HSI,"  "HUDSON  TAYLOR  IN  EARLY  YEARS,"  ETC. 


PHILADELPHIA 

THE  SUNDAY  SCHOOL  TIMES  COMPANY 


TO 

THE  BELOVED   FELLOW-WORKERS 

OF    EVERY    NAME 

WHO    ARE    LABOURING    FOR 

THE    EVANGELISATION    OF    INLAND   CHINA 

ESPECIALLY    IN 
ITS    MORE    DISTURBED    REGIONS 


PREFACE 

IT  may  be  that  readers  of  this  little  book  will  be 
moved  with  pity  for  the  sufferings  it  depicts — not 
our  own,  but  those  of  millions  in  China  to-day 
scourged  by  civil  war  and  brigandage.  It  may  be 
they  will  want  to  know  how  they  can  help  to  heal 
this  "  open  sore  of  the  world."  Among  many  ways, 
none  is  more  effectual,  we  venture  to  think,  than 
waiting  upon  God  in  prayer — steadfast,  believing 
prayer  in  the  name  of  Christ.  There  is  no  com- 
parison between  what  man  can  do  and  what  God 
can  do.  Shall  we  not  wait  upon  Him,  then,  for 
this  great  country  in  which  one  quarter  of  the 
human  race  is  slowly  turning  toward  the  light,  sore 
pressed  with  problems  to  which  Christ  alone  affords 
the  solution,  sick  with  sin,  and  wounded  with 
sufferings  He  alone  can  heal. 

And  then,  as  those  who  really  pray  are  those  who 
help  in  other  ways  as  well,  we  append  a  list  of  all 
the  organisations  at  present  engaged  in  the  evangeli- 
vii 


viii     WITH  P'U  AND  HIS  BRIGANDS 

sation  of  Yunnan — the  province  which  has  proved 
such  a  hot-bed  of  civil  war  and  brigandage.  Words 
cannot  tell  what  we  personally  owe  to  the  love  and 
prayers  and  practical  help  of  these  honoured  fellow- 
workers  of  our  own  and  other  missions.  One 
lingers  over  name  after  name  with  gratitude  and 
love.  If  these  pages  may  be  the  means  of  bringing 
help  to  any  one  of  them,  calling  forth  prayerful 
sympathy  or  the  consecration  of  young  lives  to  the 
service  in  which  they  are  engaged,  we  shall  be  more 
than  rewarded. 

"  Lift  up  your  eyes  and  look  on  the  fields,  for 
they  are  white  already  unto  harvest.  And  he  that 
reapeth  receiveth  wages  and  gathereth  fruit  unto 
life  eternal :  that  both  he  that  soweth  and  he  that 
reapeth  may  rejoice  together." 

HOWARD  AND  GERALDINE  TAYLOR. 

CHINA  INLAND  MISSION, 

GERMANTOWN,  PHILADELPHIA,  U.S.A. 


"Bretbren,  pra\>  for  us." 

Yunnan  province  in  S.W.  China  is  about  three  times 
the  size  of  England  and  has  a  population  of  twelve 
millions.  It  is  mountainous  and  beautiful,  the  Switzer- 
land of  China. 


THE  CHINA  INLAND  MISSION 

commenced  work  in  1877.     Has  at  present  twelve 
men  in  the  Province  and  six  single  ladies. 

At  the  Capital,  Ytinnanfu. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  H.  A.  C.  Allen. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  J.  Graham. 
Miss  A.  M.  Booth. 

In  the  Tribal  District,  north  of  the  Capital. 

At  Sa-p'u-shan  :  Mr.  and  Mrs.  A.  G.  Nicholls. 
At  Sa-Jo-wu :  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gladstone  Porteous. 
At  Ta-ku :  Mr.  and  Mrs.  G.  E.  Metcalf. 
At  Hsin-shao  :  Mr.  and  Mrs.  H.  Parker. 
On  furlough  :  Mr.  and  Mrs.  C.  G.  Gowman. 

At  K'ii-ts'ing,  two  days  east  of  the  Capital. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  G.  H.  Booth. 

Miss  D.  Ballard  and  Miss  I.  A.  Twell. 

On  furlough  :  Mr.  and  Mrs.  C.  A.  Fleischmann. 

At  Ta-li,  thirteen  days  west  of  the  Capital. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  A.  B.  Cooke. 
Miss  A.  M.  Simpson. 
On  furlough  :  Mr.  and  Mrs.  J.  W.  Hanna. 
ix 


x        WITH  P'U  AND  HIS  BRIGANDS 

At  Yung-chang,  eight  days  farther  west. 
Miss  A.  Kratzer  and  Miss  A.  E.  Hunter. 

Among  the  Tribes-people  in  the  far  west  of 
the  Province. 

Mr.  J.  O.  Fraser,  at  Tung-yueh. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  H.  W.  Flagg,  near  Long-ling. 

THE  UNITED  FREE  METHODIST  MISSION, 
12  Farringdon  Avenue,  London,  England. 

With  a  large  work  among  the  tribes-people  in  the  N.E. 
of  the  Province,  as  well  as  among  Chinese. 

Senior  Missionaries — Rev.  and  Mrs.  Frank  Dymond. 

THE  PENTECOSTAL  MISSIONARY  UNION 
OF  ENGLAND. 

Senior  Missionaries — Mr.  and  Mrs.  P.  Klaver. 

THE  CHURCH  MISSIONARY  SOCIETY. 

With  church  and  hospital  in  the  Capital. 

c     ......         .    rDr.  and  Mrs.  Neville  Bradley. 

Senior  Missionaries  \  „          ,  . ,       „     ,       „, 

I  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Gordon  Thompson. 

THE  YOUNG  MEN'S  CHRISTIAN 
ASSOCIATION. 

Working  in  the  Capital. 

Secretaries — Mr.  and  Mrs.  Watkins, 

and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ware. 


WITH  P'U  AND  HIS  BRIGANDS        xi 

THE  CHINESE  HOME  MISSIONARY 
SOCIETY. 

Working  in  the  Capital  and  in  the  city  of  Lufeng. 
INDEPENDENT  WORKERS. 

Miss  Cornelia  Morgan,  at  Tsuyung. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Amundson,  in  the  Capital. 


CONTENTS 
CHAPTER  I 


PAGE 

CAPTURED  i 


CHAPTER  II 
SEPARATED 14 

CHAPTER  III 
A  LONG  NIGHT 24 

CHAPTER    IV 
REUNITED 43 

CHAPTER  V 

THE  MAP  AND  ITS  MEANING  61 


FRONTISPIECE. 

MAP  (see  pocket  in  Cover). 


Xlll 


CHAPTER  I 

CAPTURED 

IT  was  a  terrible  moment  when  they  sprang  out 
upon  us  from  their  ambush  by  the  roadside,  a  band 
of  some  twenty  strong,  armed  to  the  teeth  and  the 
very  embodiment  of  all  we  had  been  hearing  about 
brigands  in  province  after  province.  So  it  had 
come  at  last ! 

For  three  years  we  had  been  travelling  in  the 
interior,  visiting  centres  occupied  by  the  China 
Inland  Mission.  These  journeys  had  taken  us 
north,  south,  east  and  west — from  beyond  the  Great 
Wall  on  the  borders  of  Mongolia,  and  out  to  the 
mountainous  frontiers  of  Tibet,  then  south  of  the 
Yangtze  to  the  province  of  Kweichow  and  now 
Yunnan.  Everywhere  we  had  seen  evidences  of 
the  new  military  activity,  or  fever,  that  possesses 
the  land — smart  officers  in  foreign  uniforms,  drilling 
of  troops  and  abundance  of  modern  arms  and 
ammunition,  to  say  nothing  of  the  persistent  efforts 
at  bugling  that  tortured  one's  nerves  while  pro- 
claiming the  new  infatuation  with  the  war  methods 
of  the  West.  Everywhere  we  had  heard  of  the 

i  B 


2  AMONG  CHINESE  BANDITS 

sufferings  of  the  people  from  one  of  its  accompani- 
ments, the  cruel  and  relentless  brigandage  that  the 
authorities  seem  powerless  to  suppress. 

And  one  could  hardly  wonder,  dreadful  as  the 
situation  is  from  all  but  the  brigands'  point  of  view. 
Thousands  of  unpaid  soldiers  see  no  other  way  of 
revenging  themselves  upon  officials  who  have  with- 
held their  pay,  and  of  lining  their  own  pockets. 
The  brigands  of  to-day  are,  in  most  cases,  the  troops 
of  yesterday,  and  may  be  again  the  soldiers  of 
to-morrow.  It  just  depends  upon  who  is  in  power 
for  the  moment,  and  how  far  he  can  satisfy  his 
followers.  But  whichever  way  it  is,  the  people  pay 
the  price.  Deserters  from  the  army,  or  armies 
rather,  taking  their  rifles  with  them,  easily  form 
these  brigand  bands,  and  the  country  is  at  the 
mercy  not  only  of  contending  political  parties  but 
of  daring  robbers,  ever  ready  to  throw  in  their  lot 
with  one  side  or  the  other,  and  meanwhile  terroris- 
ing the  people  on  their  own  account  and  fattening 
upon  their  unspeakable  sufferings. 

All  this  we  had  heard  of  again  and  again,  and  the 
experience  of  the  following  letter  had  become  a 
sadly  familiar  one. 

We  are  resting  at  a  wayside  hamlet  for  a  few  minutes. 
If  only  you  could  see  the  desolation  !  Two  or  three 
years  ago,  our  fellow-traveller  tells  us,  there  were  no 
ruined  houses  anywhere  along  this  road  (from  Shensi 
into  northern  Szechwan).  The  villages  were  all 
prosperous,  with  thrifty  farms  and  busy  shops  and  inns. 
Now  it  makes  one's  heart  ache  and  burn  with  indignation 


CAPTURED  3 

to  see  the  change.  All  down  the  village  street  one 
passes  ruin  after  ruin — doors  broken  in,  walls  and  roofs 
battered  down,  everything  smashed  or  stolen  and  even 
the  wreckage  blackened  with  fire.  As  I  write  we  are 
passing  house  after  house  in  this  condition  —  silent, 
gaping  ruins  of  what  once  were  homes.  Many  of  the 
people  are  still  living  amid  the  desolation,  sorrowful 
and  poor-looking,  but  working  hard  to  repair  things 
a  little.  They  do  not  complain.  They  seem  to  take 
it  as  inevitable.  Many  more  are  gone,  never  to  return. 

Tortured,  killed,  or  held  to  ransom,  what  stories 
we  had  heard  of  the  experiences  of  men,  women 
and  even  children  !  Every  plan  that  cruelty  could 
devise  seemed  practised  to  extort  money  from  those 
who  might  have  it.  And  there  was  little  to  choose 
between  soldiers  and  brigands,  their  power  alike 
depending  upon  their  being  armed  with  modern 
rifles  and  revolvers. 

But  though  in  province  after  province  we  had 
been  very  near  these  marauding  bands,  we  had  never 
even  seen  a  brigand  until  the  day  we  fell  into  their 
hands.  We  knew  about  the  capture  of  other 
missionaries,  several  of  whom  had  been  held  for 
longer  or  shorter  periods  in  the  province  of  Yunnan. 
In  the  district  we  had  just  reached,  Mr.  Parker  had 
been  a  prisoner  for  five  long  weeks  before  he  made 
his  wonderful  escape  from  P'u  Shu-ming.1  How 
little  we  imagined  that  this  very  man  had  his  people 
watching  us  as  we  neared  the  capital,  Yiinnanfu, 

1  For  a  full  account  of  this  escape,  see  China's  Millions  for 
March  1922,  English  Edition. 


4  AMONG  CHINESE  BANDITS 

determined  to  "  invite  us,"  as  they  said,  "to  be 
their  guests  in  the  mountains,  as  Mr.  Parker  had 
gone  away  without  saying  Good-bye  !  " 

We  were  not  expecting  special  danger,  though 
we  knew  things  were  far  from  peaceful  and  that  the 
brigands  were  taking  advantage  of  the  political 
situation  to  try  and  obtain  a  favourable  amnesty 
from  the  Government.  Mr.  Allen,  our  senior 
missionary  in  the  district,  had  not  been  able  to  come 
out  to  meet  us.  The  British  Consul  would  not 
consent  to  his  leaving  the  city.  But  this  was, 
presumably,  because  he  was  Mr.  Parker's  father- 
in-law  and  the  one  person  the  brigands  desired  to 
have  as  their  middle  man.  He  had  sent  Li  Yen- 
ts'ing,  his  "  prince  of  evangelists  "  as  he  wrote,  to 
bring  us  safely  into  the  city,  and  for  two  days  we 
had  been  enjoying  his  care  and  companionship. 

For  what  an  escort  he  was  !  Whether  getting 
us  off  at  daybreak,  rousing  the  chair-bearers,  obtain- 
ing boiling  water  at  unheard-of  hours,  propitiating 
the  inn-people,  cheering  the  caravan  along  the  road 
or  conducting  services  in  the  outstations  we  came 
to,  where  it  was  easy  to  see  how  the  Christians 
loved  him,  he  was  a  Greatheart  indeed.  Agile  in 
mind  and  person,  he  would  walk  for  hours  beside 
my  chair,  asking  questions  about  our  experiences  in 
the  many  places  visited,  talking  over  passages  of 
Scripture — his  New  Testament  always  at  hand- 
eagerly  listening  to  thoughts  on  spiritual  things,  and 
pouring  out  story  after  story  of  conversions,  deliver- 
ances and  answers  to  prayer.  He  had  much  to  tell 


CAPTURED  5 

about  the  brigands,  and  it  was  somewhat  blood- 
curdling at  times  to  hear  of  people  who  had  been 
ambushed,  robbed  and  even  killed  in  the  very  places 
we  were  passing. 

"  This  hollow  is  a  special  haunt  of  robbers,"  he 
would  say  under  his  breath,  or,  "  The  hills  yonder 
are  full  of  them.  You  may  see  them  moving  among 
the  trees." 

But  he  always  went  on  to  assure  us  that  we  need 
have  no  fear,  for  they  did  not  molest  people  who 
could  show  genuine  proof  that  they  were  Christians. 

As  we  neared  the  capital,  however,  even  Li 
Yen -ts 'ing  became  silent  and  preoccupied.  We 
could  see  that  he  was  concerned,  though  he  did  not 
recommend  a  military  escort.  We  were  travelling 
as  usual  without  one  ;  not  that  we  were  unwilling 
for  such  protection,  but  that  having  been  brought 
in  safety  through  fourteen  provinces  it  did  not 
occur  to  us  as  necessary,  so  near  the  railway  terminus 
at  Yiinnanfu.  And  strange  to  say,  no  one  had 
advised  us  to  take  special  precautions. 

Little  more  than  twenty  miles  remained  of  the 
long  road,  and  we  were  full  of  expectation.  For 
not  only  were  there  the  friends  in  the  capital  to  see 
and  the  work  they  are  carrying  on  in  more  than 
forty  outstations — northward  lay  that  far-reaching 
Tribal  District  in  which  thousands  of  Miao  and 
other  mountain  people  are  turning  to  the  Light. 
How  keen  we  were  to  be  in  the  great  gatherings,  to 
meet  the  warm-hearted  converts,  to  see  the  wonder- 
ful opportunities  and  the  devoted  workers  !  Twenty 


6  AMONG  CHINESE  BANDITS 

miles  only — to-morrow  we  would  be  in  Yiinnanfu  ! 
But  the  Lord  had  other  plans.  He  was  about  to 
trust  us  with  one  of  the  greatest  disappointments, 
one  of  the  greatest  blessings  of  our  lives.  And,  like 
many  another  blessing,  it  came  in  strange  disguise. 

Much  as  we  had  heard  of  brigands,  we  never 
imagined  they  could  be  so  alarming  as  the  band 
that  rushed  upon  us  with  wild  excitement  at  that 
bend  of  the  road  among  the  trees.  We  had  passed, 
only  a  few  minutes  previously,  a  Chinese  merchant 
travelling  in  the  opposite  direction,  with  a  guard  of 
several  soldiers.  But  they  had  gone  their  way  un- 
molested. It  was  our  party  the  bandits  were  waiting 
for  ;  and  it  was  well  we  had  no  escort,  for  there 
would  certainly  have  been  bloodshed.  It  may  have 
been  fear  that  we  were  armed  and  would  whip  out 
revolvers  to  meet  them  that  contorted  their  faces 
with  such  frenzy,  or  it  may  have  been  simply  their 
way  of  striking  terror  to  the  hearts  of  their  victims. 
And  to  this  their  attire  contributed.  Huge  black 
turbans  made  their  heads  of  fearsome  size,  and  their 
leather  doublets  and  broad  girdles  were  formidable 
with  cartridges,  knives  and  swords.  But  the  fury 
of  the  men  themselves  was  the  worst  of  all.  One 
had  never  seen  anything  like  it. 

My  chair  was  in  front  and  I  got  out  at  once  to 
meet  them.  Dr.  Taylor  did  the  same,  and  soon  he 
and  Mr.  Li  were  in  the  thick  of  the  turmoil,  trying 
to  explain  who  and  what  we  were  and  to  quiet  the 
excitement. 


CAPTURED  7 

"  We  are  friends,  you  know,"  my  husband  said. 
'*  When  you  are  sick  or  wounded  we  care  for  you 
in  our  hospitals,  and  Mr.  Allen  is  always  ready  to 
help  you  in  any  way  he  can." 

But  words  and  arguments  were  not  to  much 
purpose,  nor  was  it  our  belongings  they  wanted. 
The  terror-stricken  coolies  were  ordered  to  go  on 
and  carry  our  loads  into  the  city.  This  seemed 
hopeful,  and  we  were  encouraged  to  think  that 
Mr.  Li's  repeated  statements  would  prove  true — 
that  they  did  not  interfere  with  Christians. 

In  the  confusion,  my  chief  anxiety  was  for  Mrs. 
Tai,  an  attractive-looking  young  woman  who  was 
travelling  with  us.  I  held  her  hand  most  of  the 
time,  for  she  was  very  frightened,  and  when  things 
seemed  quieting  down  a  little,  got  her  chair  off  and 
was  going  to  mine,  Mr.  Li  and  others  urging  us  to 
make  haste  into  the  city.  But  turning  to  see  if  my 
husband  was  coming,  what  was  my  surprise  to  find 
that  they  were  carrying  him  the  other  way  !  It  was 
clear  in  a  moment ;  he  was  taken  prisoner.  His 
deafness,  apart  from  other  considerations,  made  me 
feel  I  could  not  let  him  go  alone,  though  he  begged 
me  to  do  so  when  I  gained  his  side.  Finally,  the 
suggestion  that  they  might  take  him  off  in  one 
direction  and  me  in  another  —  by  no  means  im- 
probable—  induced  him  to  consent  to  my  accom- 
panying him. 

So  it  was  together  we  faced  the  strange  conditions 
that  had  come  so  suddenly  upon  us.  And  perhaps 
the  strangest,  most  wonderful  thing  of  all  was  the 


8  AMONG  CHINESE  BANDITS 

peace  that  filled  our  hearts.  It  was  not  of  our  doing 
or  trying.  Who  could,  humanly  speaking,  have 
been  peaceful,  even  happy,  in  such  circumstances  ? 
Separated  from  our  belongings,  we  had  no  change  of 
garments,  no  food-basket,  no  bedding,  nothing  but 
the  few  books  and  papers  and  the  rug  and  pillow 
we  each  carried  in  our  chair.  We  were  wholly 
dependent  upon  the  brigands,  wholly  defenceless 
and  at  their  mercy ;  yet,  as  the  following  journal- 
notes  record,  we  were  wholly  free  from  fear. 

We  are  in  the  hands  of  these  wild  outlaws  it  is  true, 
with  their  guns  and  knives  and  fierce  faces,  but  we  feel 
not  in  their  hands  at  all,  but  in  the  hands  of  our  blessed, 
ever-present  Lord.  It  is  real  joy  and  rest  to  know  that 
He  has  permitted  this.  Our  hearts  are  warm  to  these 
poor  fellows  too — these  brigands.  They  begin  to  smile 
when  they  look  at  us.  One  of  the  leaders,  marching 
by  my  chair,  laughed  right  out  when  he  heard  me 
singing. 

"  She  sings,"  he  exclaimed,  "  she  is  not  afraid — 
she  sings  !  " 

Just  now  when  a  gun  was  fired,  the  sharp  report 
brought  a  sudden  thought  of  joy.  What  if  a  shot  like 
that  were  to  set  us  free  from  the  body  to  be  forever  with 
the  Lord  !  But  perhaps  our  work  here  is  not  finished 
yet.  How  gladly  would  we  serve  a  little  longer,  serve 
more  prayerfully,  more  faithfully. 

It  is  not  an  hour  yet  since  we  were  carried  off  by  the 
band.  They  came  upon  us  on  the  main  road,  from 
behind  bushes,  firing  their  guns  and  one  of  the  leaders 
brandishing  his  big  curved  sword,  with  shouts  of  frenzy 
and  faces  demoniacal  in  their  expression.  All  was 


CAPTURED  9 

turmoil  and  terror — at  least  they  tried  to  make  it  so. 
In  our  hearts  all  was  peace.  .  .  . 

And  now  we  have  turned  into  a  big  farm-house  in  a 
lonely  hamlet.  The  people  are  silent  and  afraid.  We 
have  taken  possession  of  the  courtyard,  where  our 
captors  are  sitting  round  a  long,  low  table.  Howard  is 
with  them,  and  dear  Mr.  Li,  who  would  not  leave  us. 
I  have  retired  to  a  stone  trough  in  the  open  stable.  The 
brigands  say  they  cannot  release  us,  because  they  are 
responsible  to  the  whole  band.  There  are  four  thousand 
of  them  :  only  thirty  came  out  on  this  business.  They 
are  P'u's  men.  We  shall  probably  see  P'u  to-morrow. 

We  have  just  been  writing  to  Mr.  Allen ;  the  brigands 
wished  us  to  do  so.  The  poor  people  of  this  house  are 
so  afraid  !  The  woman  was  outside  with  me  just  now, 
and  I  asked  her  quietly  whether  her  place  had  been 
robbed  by  the  band.  She  put  up  four  fingers. 

"  Do  you  mean  that  they  have  robbed  you  four 
times  ?  "  I  questioned. 

She  nodded  emphatically,  without  a  word. 

So  that  is  why  they  are  not  robbing  here  ;  there  is 
nothing  left  worth  taking.  Soon  after  they  set  off  with 
us  we  had  a  glimpse  into  their  way  of  doing  things. 
We  met  some  hapless  travellers.  I  did  feel  sorry  for 
them.  Our  band  rushed  on  them  with  ferocious  yells, 
rifled  their  belongings  in  a  few  minutes,  taking  all  they 
wanted,  and  left  them  thankful,  I  expect,  to  have  it  over 
so  quickly. 

We  are  delaying  here  a  long  time,  yet  we  have  some 
distance  to  go  I  understand.  They  said  something 
about  our  having  to  ride  on  horseback.  Our  poor 
chair-bearers  are  suffering  from  lack  of  opium,  and  are 
silent  and  frightened. 


io          AMONG  CHINESE  BANDITS 

Here  come  a  number  of  horses.  I  wonder  whether 
we  have  been  waiting  for  them.  They  have  bedding 
thrown  over  their  saddles  in  the  usual  fashion.  I  do 
not  feel  just  inclined  for  a  ride  in  the  midst  of  this  rough 
band  ;  but  the  Lord  will  give  all  needed  grace. 

Friday,  Feb.  17. 

It  is  sorrowful  to  see  the  fear  and  suffering  of  the 
people  all  along  our  way.  The  villages  are  like  places 
of  the  dead — every  house  closed,  people  fled  or  hiding, 
and  the  few  who  are  about,  doing  necessary  work,  so 
terrified  and  silent !  Hardly  any  one  is  to  be  seen  in 
the  fields,  and  there  are  no  travellers  on  the  roads.  A 
reign  of  terror  everywhere  !  One  sees  it  now  that  we 
are  part  of  the  band,  so  to  speak,  and  travelling  with 
them.  The  only  relief  is  prayer — that  our  Almighty 
God  will  in  some  way,  in  His  own  way,  bring  peace  to 
this  tormented  region  ;  yes,  and  bring  deliverance  to 
the  brigands  themselves,  wicked  as  they  are.  Many 
of  them  want  to  leave  this  life,  and  cannot.  No  way  is 
open  to  them.  The  Lord  undertake  for  them,  for  us, 
and  for  the  people. 

How  much  we  seem  to  have  lived  through  since  this 
time  yesterday  !  Our  hearts  are  kept  in  perfect  peace, 
truly  overflowing  with  joy  in  the  Lord  and  love  to  all 
around  us.  It  is  His  doing,  and  so  blessed  an  experi- 
ence that,  as  far  as  we  are  concerned,  the  trial  is  well 
worth  while.  The  Bible  is  living  and  real  in  a  wonderful 
way,  every  part  to  which  one  turns  speaking  to  one's 
heart.  Prayer  is  indeed  "  without  ceasing  " — a  con- 
tinuous refuge  and  rest. 

But  I  must  try  to  write  about  what  has  been  happening. 

After  a  long,  long  wait  in  that  farm-house  yesterday, 


CAPTURED  ii 

food  was  brought,  and  we  were  invited  to  eat  with  our 
escort.  We  sat  on  one  side  of  the  low  table  in  the 
courtyard,  they  on  the  other.  Howard,  quoting  the 
familiar  saying,  "  It  is  to  Heaven  we  owe  our  food," 
suggested  giving  thanks  for  the  company.  To  this  they 
readily  consented.  The  leaders  were  at  the  table  with 
us,  the  "  Brothers  "  formed  a  group  round  a  huge  pail 
of  rice  on  the  ground.  Our  chair-bearers  had  been 
marched  off  to  another  house  for  their  meal.  For  us, 
they  had  prepared  their  best — a  basin  of  pork,  thick 
chunks  rather  underdone,  another  of  chicken  cut  up 
and  stewed,  head  and  feet  all  in  together,  and  a  third 
of  the  blood  and  viscera  of  the  fowl,  raw  and  the  reverse 
of  inviting.  Happily,  we  were  not  helped  to  this  dish, 
though  it  was  right  in  front  of  us ;  and  despite  the  guns 
and  daggers  and  the  unwashed  condition  of  the  crowd 
we  managed  to  get  on  pleasantly  and  make  a  fair  meal. 
We  knew  that  we  must  eat,  or  we  could  not  bear  the 
strain.  Then  the  horses  were  led  out  and  the  cavalcade 
started,  Howard  riding,  I  in  my  chair  and  Mr.  Li 
sometimes  riding  and  sometimes  walking.  The  village 
people  were  so  friendly  before  we  left,  poor  things  ! 
Several  women  came  out  from  closed  houses,  and  I 
saw  others  peeping  from  their  hiding-places  as  we  were 
going  off. 

Immediately  on  leaving  the  hamlet,  we  plunged  into 
a  bamboo  grove,  off  the  road  and  up  a  steep  hill.  The 
path  was  scarcely  to  be  seen,  though  later  we  followed 
various  "  small  roads  "  in  the  open.  On  and  on  we 
went,  not  meeting  a  solitary  soul,  climbing  higher  and 
higher,  until  the  outlook  was  extensive  and  beautiful. 
The  sun  was  setting  gloriously,  but  the  wind  was  so 
strong  that  I  could  not  write. 


12          AMONG  CHINESE  BANDITS 

We  thought  they  meant  to  travel  all  night,  and  we 
were  so  tired  !  But  soon  after  dark  they  told  us  there 
were  only  a  couple  of  miles  to  go.  Those  were  certainly 
long  miles  !  On  and  on  we  went,  stumbling  down 
steep  places  through  rock-strewn  woods,  after  lighting 
all  the  lamps  we  had  on  the  crest  of  a  hill.  Ours  was 
the  only  lantern,  the  rest  were  opium-lamps. 

As  we  went  along  in  the  dark  I  could  not  but  think 
what  a  "  terror  by  night  "  these  men  must  be — rushing 
into  sleeping  villages,  shooting  right  and  left  and  setting 
fire  to  houses  if  the  doors  are  not  immediately  opened 
and  everything  given  that  they  demand. 

Alas,  the  fear  in  the  hearts  of  the  people  !  We  have 
just  passed  a  farmer  on  the  narrow  path,  pressed  up 
against  the  bushes  to  let  us  go  by,  his  eyes  almost 
starting  out  of  their  sockets,  and  absolutely  silent  as  if 
turned  to  stone.  The  few  people  we  meet  look  at  us 
without  an  expression  of  interest  or  pity.  Whatever 
we  might  be  suffering  it  is  evident  no  help  could  be 
expected  here,  and  one  cannot  wonder. 

At  last,  by  the  light  of  our  lamps,  we  stumbled  into 
a  silent  village,  where  every  door  was  shut.  The  band 
made  straight  for  a  large  house  which  they  seemed  to 
use  as  their  own.  The  courtyard  was  surrounded  with 
two-storied  buildings,  the  lower  rooms  being  raised 
several  feet  above  the  ground  and  most  of  them  open 
in  front.  One  side  was  a  sort  of  stable.  Fires  were 
soon  burning  on  the  ground,  round  which  the  brigands 
crouched  to  warm  themselves. 

We  were  told  to  go  upstairs,  which  we  gladly  did  ; 
but  on  reaching  a  large  room  at  the  top  of  the  ladder- 
like  steps  we  found  that  we  were  in  the  family  bedroom. 
A  man  was  still  in  bed,  and  two  or  three  women  looked 


CAPTURED  13 

as  if  they  were  in  some  terrible  nightmare.  We  tried 
to  comfort  them  and  explain  the  situation,  and  with 
Mr.  Li's  help  partially  succeeded.  Poor  things,  they 
turned  out  of  their  room  for  us,  the  man  getting  up 
and  carrying  off  his  wadded  quilt  to  leave  us  his  far 
from  cleanly  bed.  And  we  had  no  iu-pu  to  spread 
over  it — the  invaluable  oiled  sheet  that,  like  charity, 
"  covers  a  multitude  of  sins  "  ! 

Even  so,  we  passed  a  peaceful  night,  sleeping  on  and 
off  and  filling  the  intervals  with  prayer  and  thanksgiving. 
Mr.  Li  shared  the  little  bedding  we  had,  sleeping  on  the 
floor  beside  us.  We  had  no  candle  or  lantern,  no  soap 
or  towel  and  only  one  blanket  to  cover  us,  but  how 
well  off  we  were  compared  with  the  poor  people  of  the 
place  ! 

"  Have  they  robbed  you  ?  "  I  asked  one  woman  when 
we  were  alone. 

She  silently  put  up  three  fingers.  "  They  have  taken 
everything,"  she  whispered ;  "  yes,  three  times." 

About  midnight  we  were  wakened  —  supper  was 
ready.  We  had  to  hurry  down,  for  the  leaders  of  the 
band  were  waiting  for  us  to  "  ask  a  blessing."  Strange 
scene  as  that  unusual  meal  went  on — glowing  fires  here 
and  there  lighting  up  the  darkness,  opium -lamps 
showing  the  faces  of  the  smokers  lying  round  them  on 
the  ground,  the  handsome  red-lacquered  table  and  our 
lantern  gleaming  on  the  ammunition  belts  and  pistols 
of  the  men  eating  beside  us,  helping  us  in  the  most 
friendly  way  to  bits  of  pork  and  ladlefuls  of  cabbage- 
water  with  our  rice  ! 


CHAPTER  II 

SEPARATED 

IN  the  glorious  sunshine  of  the  following  morning 
we  were  early  on  our  way  to  meet  the  brigand 
General  somewhere  near  his  headquarters.  Much 
depended  on  the  interview.  Would  he  liberate  us, 
treating  the  capture  as  a  mistake  ?  This  was  still 
Li  Yen-ts'ing's  expectation.  Would  he  treat  us 
kindly  ?  Or  would  he  take  a  sterner  line,  to  be 
revenged  for  the  escape  of  Mr.  Parker  ?  Weariness 
and  hunger  were  beginning  to  tell  upon  any  natural 
resources  of  strength  we  may  have  had,  but  it  was 
sweet  to  find  that  the  inward  sustaining  did  not 
fail. 

In  the  course  of  the  morning  we  came  to  a  little 
town,  silent  and  deserted,  and  found  to  our  surprise 
a  large  company  of  brigands  in  the  space  before  the 
temple.  A  young  man  in  foreign  dress,  with  a 
handsome  overcoat,  felt  hat  and  brown  leather  shoes, 
seemed  to  be  someone  of  importance.  He  produced 
a  foreign  visiting-card,  which  proclaimed  him  a 
T'uan-chang  or  Colonel — for  these  were  more  of  our 
band,  which  is  organised  like  a  regular  army.  This 

M 


SEPARATED  15 

magnificent  person  mounted  his  horse,  and  said  he 
would  himself  conduct  us  to  the  Commander-m- 
Chief.  Of  what  followed  my  Journal  must  tell  the 
story. 

So  to  him  we  are  now  going.  The  way  is  long,  up 
and  up  a  valley  through  which  runs  a  swift,  beautiful 
river.  We  are  near  the  water  most  of  the  time.  This 
ought  to  be  a  populous  region,  for  we  have  passed 
several  large  villages  and  another  lies  at  the  head  of  the 
valley  in  front  of  us  now,  but  all  is  stricken  with  that 
same  death-like  silence.  Some  boys  with  a  flock  of 
goats  have  ventured  out,  on  the  other  side  of  the  river  ; 
and  here  is  one  peasant  working  in  the  fields.  I  wonder 
whether  the  "  General  "  is  in  this  little  town  we  are 
nearing,  or  further  back  in  the  mountains  ? 

No,  the  "  Big  Man  "  is  some  miles  further  on.  We 
are  stopping  here  for  food.  The  people  of  the  place 
seem  friendly  with  our  brigands,  and  quite  a  number, 
including  women  and  children,  have  gathered  around. 
They  seem  never  to  have  seen  a  foreigner  before.  I 
have  been  making  friends  with  the  women,  but  they  are 
too  frightened  and  excited  to  listen  much. 

Our  "  Colonel  "  is  here,  resplendent,  now  that  his 
coat  is  removed,  with  a  band  of  silver  round  his  chest, 
curiously  made  of  half-dollar  pieces  connected  with 
silver  chains.  The  whole  forms  a  belt  for  his  heavy 
cavalry  revolver. 

Strange — they  say  soldiers  are  coming  !  Our  band  is 
greatly  excited.  Spies  are  going  out,  and  the  "  Colonel  " 
wants  to  hurry  us  on  to  horses,  to  get  us  away.  No, 
he  has  changed  his  mind.  Howard  and  Mr.  Li  are  to 
send  cards  to  the  officer  begging  him  not  to  fight,  as 


16          AMONG  CHINESE  BANDITS 

we  should  be  the  ones  to  suffer.  They  are  writing 
now.  The  "  Colonel  "  is  another  man — fierce,  implac- 
able. It  is  as  if  the  tiger  in  him  had  suddenly  sprung 
out.  I  heard  him  swear  to  Li  Yen-ts'ing  : 

"  If  there  is  any  fighting,  these  people  will  at  once 
be  killed.  The  soldiers  shall  never  get  them  alive  !  " 

Now  a  soldier  has  come  in,  or  a  brigand,  rather, 
camouflaged  as  a  soldier.  I  cannot  quite  make  out 
whether  the  military  are  after  us  or  not.  This  man 
says  not ;  but  I  heard  Mr.  Li  ask,  a  little  later,  how 
many  there  were  in  the  party.  It  is  evidently  pretty 
serious.  But  we  are  kept  without  fear.  "  Whether 
we  live,  we  live  unto  the  Lord  ;  or  whether  we  die,  we 
die  unto  the  Lord  :  whether  we  live,  therefore,  or  die, 
we  are  the  Lord's."  This  perfect  peace  is  wonderful, 
literally  "  garrisoning  "  heart  and  mind. 

Later, 

The  scare  about  the  soldiers  is  over,  but  it  has  shown 
how  quickly  our  captors,  who  had  seemed  so  friendly, 
might  turn  into  merciless  foes.  We  have  had  food,  and 
are  now  going  on  six  or  eight  miles  to  where  they  say 
the  "  General  "  is.  We  are  still  following  the  river  up 
a  narrow  valley,  scarcely  more  than  a  defile  among  the 
hills.  Our  dollar-belt  "  Colonel  "  is  in  front  with  his 
revolver — a  gallant  figure  on  his  magnificent  saddle, 
with  the  red  flag  —  half  a  crimson  blanket  —  carried 
before  him.  (Poor  fellow,  how  little  we  thought  that 
within  a  few  days  he  would  fall  into  the  hands  of  those 
very  soldiers,  and  his  head  be  carried  as  a  trophy  into 
the  city  !) 


SEPARATED  17 

Later. 

In  the  sunset,  we  are  coming  down  from  a  high 
ridge  into  a  beautiful,  wide  valley,  surrounded  by 
mountains.  There  is  a  little  lake  down  there,  and  such 
a  far  reach  of  open  country  !  It  looks  peaceful  and 
homelike  ;  but  it  must  be  terror-stricken  like  all  the 
rest,  for  this  is  the  brigand's  kingdom.  We  are  to  meet 
their  leader  down  there,  they  say.  The  Lord  give  us 
grace  and  wisdom  ! 

Everything  is  strangely  deserted.  Wide  though  our 
outlook  is  in  every  direction  not  a  creature  is  in  sight, 
only  our  fearsome  company  of  about  thirty  men.  Oh, 
it  is  a  lovely  spot !  Lord,  Who  alone  canst,  restore 
peace,  I  pray  Thee,  to  this  suffering  people,  truly  like 
sheep  for  the  slaughter. 

We  have  just  passed  a  deep  gully  below  the  road  on 
our  right,  filled  with  cattle  herded  closely  together, 
with  a  few  silent  lads  keeping  watch.  I  and  my  chair- 
bearers  were  the  only  ones  near  enough  to  the  edge  to 
see  them.  Such  a  surprise  in  this  deserted  scene  ! 

What  lies  before  us  in  the  little  town  we  are  coming 
to  ?  He  knows.  "  I  have  waited  for  Thy  salvation, 
O  Lord,"  came  in  one  of  my  chapters  yesterday,  and 
to-day  comes  the  precious  word  in  the  chapter  following  : 
"  As  for  you,  ye  meant  evil  against  me,  but  God  meant 
it  for  good,  to  bring  to  pass  as  it  is  this  day,  to  save  much 
people  alive."  Gen.  xlix.  18,  1.  20. 

7.30  P.M. 

Well,  we  are  guests  to-night  of  the  Hai  family,  in 
the  most  crowded  little  farm-house  we  have  yet  found 
in  China.  The  one  room  is  divided  into  several  strips 
or  corners,  one  of  which  we  occupy,  while  just  outside 

C 


i8          AMONG  CHINESE  BANDITS 

the  half-partition  a  fire  burns  on  the  earth-floor,  round 
which  our  guard  lie  with  their  opium-pipes.  On  the 
other  side  of  our  corner,  the  family  of  nine  or  more  are 
gathered  round  a  low  table,  eating  hungrily.  They  all 
stow  themselves  somehow  behind  the  partition  at  the 
other  end  of  the  room,  where  the  cooking  goes  on,  the 
babies  cry  and  the  good  mother  shouts  her  admonitions. 
Everybody  else  will  sleep  how  and  where  they  can, 
mostly  on  the  ground.  So  our  dark,  windowless  corner 
seems  a  sort  of  sleeping-car  luxury.  We  have  a  bed 
— oh,  for  an  oiled  sheet ! — and  the  family  rice-chest 
fills  up  the  rest  of  the  space,  not  forgetting  what  looks 
like  a  dung-heap  at  the  end  of  the  bed.  It  is  not  offen- 
sive, however,  being  a  dry  heap,  and  kept  from  spreading 
over  the  mud  floor  by  big  stones. 

And  here  we  are  quite  at  rest,  waiting  for  the  mo- 
mentous visit  of  "  General "  P'u  Shu-ming,  who  has 
not  yet  appeared.  Howard  is  trying  to  get  a  little  sleep, 
having  had  a  wakeful  night.  Mr.  Li  is  sitting  on  a  block 
of  wood  beside  us,  reading  his  Bible  and  sharing  our 
flickering  light — a  bit  of  pith  floating  in  a  saucer  of  oil. 
I  do  not  know  where  he  is  going  to  sleep.  Perhaps  on 
a  mat  by  our  bed,  as  he  did  last  night.  Our  chair- 
bearers  are  in  another  house  ;  there  is  positively  no 
room  for  them  here.  Sometime,  I  suppose,  supper  will 
appear.  Two  basins  of  rice  with  a  few  scraps  of  pork 
and  green  vegetable,  half  cooked,  is  all  the  food  we  have 
had  to-day.  Yet  I  feel  so  well  and  not  hungry  ! 
Lively  conversation  goes  on  all  round  us,  and  the  baby 
is  crying  at  the  top  of  its  voice.  After  midnight,  how- 
ever, things  will  quiet  down.  It  was  so  last  night  in  the 
big  house. 


SEPARATED  19 

Saturday,  7.30  A.M. 

I  have  had  to  leave  him — I  have  had  to  leave  him  ! 

"  Who  shall  separate  us  from  the  love  of  Christ  ?  " 
..."  More  than  conquerors  " — through  Him,  in  Him 
alone. 

2  P.M. 

Just  before  midnight,  last  night,  I  was  wakened  by 
voices  in  earnest  conversation  outside  our  corner. 
Mr.  Li  was  talking  rapidly — urging,  pleading — the  main 
drift  of  it  all  being  that  we  were  no  longer  young  and 
ought  not  to  be  made  to  suffer.  I  thought  he  was 
talking  with  the  leaders  of  the  band,  and  heard  some 
one  saying  that  we  must  "  eat  bitterness,"  and  that  I 
must  ride  on  horseback  so  as  to  travel  quickly  back 
into  the  mountains.  As  we  were  waiting  to  see  the 
"  General  "  I  did  not  attach  much  importance  to  the 
conversation,  but  realising  that  Li  was  troubled  I 
prayed  for  him  earnestly. 

And  then,  to  my  surprise,  our  half-door  was  pushed 
open  and  several  men  came  in.  Mr.  Li  was  with  them. 
It  was  a  little  disconcerting,  for  I  had  loosened  my  hair 
and  was  partly  undressed.  I  woke  Howard,  who  sat 
up  just  as  Mr.  Li  said : 

"  General  P'u  has  come  to  see  you." 

A  short,  thick-set  man  with  a  big  turban  l  and  a 
dollar-belt  under  his  foreign  overcoat  held  out  a  grimy 
hand,  shaking  hands  first  with  Howard  then  with  me. 
At  once  all  the  talking  I  had  overheard  was  explained. 
It  was  the  "  Big  Man  "  himself  who  had  been  laying 

1  This  is  the  brigand  head-dress,  and  consists  of  yards  and 
yards  of  silk  or  other  material,  usually  black  in  colour,  folded 
round  the  head  until  it  appears  to  be  of  enormous  size. 


20          AMONG  CHINESE  BANDITS 

down  the  law,  having  come  in  the  middle  of  the  night, 
and  it  was  with  him  Mr.  Li  had  been  pleading. 

The  interview  that  followed  was  far  from  reassuring. 
P'u  said  that  he  had  reliable  information  that  several 
companies  of  soldiers  were  advancing  against  him,  one 
of  four  hundred  men  being  only  ten  miles  away.  His 
wish  was  to  treat  us  kindly  ;  but  unless  this  advance 
was  stopped  we  would  have  to  suffer.  And  if  there 
were  fighting,  our  lives  would  pay  the  penalty. 

The  man  himself  was  the  most  disquieting  part  of 
the  situation,  as  I  took  him  in  while  he  was  talking  with 
Howard.  For  there  was  little  of  the  soldier  about  him 
and  nothing  of  the  gentleman.  He  is  an  out-and-out 
brigand,  a  determined,  relentless,  animal  -  sort  of 
personality,  who  would  as  soon  shoot  you  as  look  at 
you.  A  desperado — and  as  we  soon  found,  in  desperate 
mood. 

He  had  invited  us,  he  said,  into  the  mountains  to  help 
to  settle  their  affairs  with  the  Government.  There  were 
certain  terms  on  which  alone  we  should  be  released. 
These  his  Secretary  would  set  forth  in  writing.  We  were 
to  get  up  at  once  and  write  in  English  to  the  Consul, 
telling  him  the  real  state  of  the  case.  There  was  no 
time  to  lose.  He  had  been  lenient  once  or  twice 
(referring  to  the  escape  of  Mr.  Parker  and  others),  but 
this  meant  business.  We  should  never  leave  his  hands 
alive,  unless  his  terms  were  agreed  to.  And  when  he 
had  delivered  his  ultimatum  he  retired,  disregarding 
my  husband's  arguments  as  completely  as  he  had  Mr. 
Li's  pleadings. 

I  will  not  dwell  on  the  rest  of  the  night,  nor  on  our 
feelings  when,  before  the  letter  could  be  finished,  the 
rough  men  of  our  new  guard  were  hurrying  us  to  put 


SEPARATED  21 

our  things  together  to  set  out  for  the  mountains.  It 
was  then  2  A.M.,  and  very  cold.  Li  Yen-ts'ing  was 
greatly  distressed  ;  they  were  beginning  to  make  us 
"  eat  bitterness  "  already.  But  Howard  was  helped 
in  talking  with  the  men — as  always,  courteously  and 
pleasantly. 

"  What  will  you  do,"  he  said,  "  if  we  become  ill  and 
cannot  travel  ?  For  two  nights  we  have  hardly  slept, 
and  the  days  have  been  long  and  tiring.  We  will  take 
a  little  rest  now,  and  start  at  dawn." 

To  our  relief  and  thankfulness,  they  consented. 

We  all  lay  down  then  and  slept.  Flashes  of  thought 
would  keep  coming  over  me  as  to  what  might  be  ;  but 
again  and  again  "  the  peace  of  God  that  passes  under- 
standing "  reasserted  its  control.  I  cannot  say  there 
was  no  fear,  no  struggle.  We  were  cold  and  hungry 
and  very  tired,  and  I  was  humiliated  to  find  how  courage 
wanes  under  these  conditions.  But  there  is  something 
better  than  natural  courage.  Isaiah  1.  4-7  kept  coming 
to  my  mind  ;  and  thinking  of  Him  Who  endured  to  the 
end  for  us,  one  slept  and  waked  and  prayed  till  morning 
light. 

And  then  a  strange  thing  happened.  As  we  were 
getting  ready  to  set  out  for  the  mountains,  Li  Yen-ts'ing 
came  in,  and  under  the  influence  of  some  strong  feeling 
said  that  I  must  go  at  once  to  the  city.  P'u  had  changed 
his  mind  and  decided  that  this  was  the  best  course. 
I  must  go  and  press  matters  in  the  city,  and  Mr.  Li 
would  remain  with  Howard.  Before  we  could  reply, 
he  laid  his  hand  on  my  arm  in  his  earnestness,  and  said 
that  I  must  not  refuse.  Howard  urged  the  same, 
speaking  about  our  chair-bearers,  the  seven  men  for 
whose  safety  we  were  responsible.  They  would  all  be 


22          AMONG  CHINESE  BANDITS 

allowed  to  go  with  me,  and  it  would  mean  their  deliver- 
ance from  a  situation  in  which  we  were  powerless  to 
protect  them. 

I  cannot  write  about  it.  The  duty  seemed  plain. 
But  to  go  and  leave  my  husband  in  such  danger  !  The 
Lord  gave  grace  for  the  parting,  though  the  blinding 
tears  would  come — the  first  tears  since  we  were  taken. 

So  we  left  the  hamlet  in  that  hidden  corner  of  the 
beautiful  valley  just  as  the  brigands  were  saddling  their 
horses  to  carry  their  prisoner  back  into  the  mountains. 
I  was  alone  with  the  chair-bearers,  and  it  was  not  until 
several  miles  lay  between  us  and  the  band  that  they 
began  to  talk  again  and  be  more  like  themselves.  As 
we  speed  on  now,  over  the  open  plain,  where  the  people 
are  busy  about  their  crops  and  that  dreadful  sense  of 
oppression  is  gone,  my  heart  is  with  the  group  winding 
their  way  up  and  down  those  lonely  paths,  and  with 
one  rider  who,  I  know,  is  very  weary.  P'u  may  be 
with  them  himself.  He  told  me  he  would  not  leave 
them. 

"  I  will  take  good  care  of  them,"  he  said,  "  do  not  be 
anxious." 

But  Some  One  Else  is  taking  care  of  His  servant — 
and  our  hearts  only  desire  His  will.  What  a  "  token 
for  good  "  it  was  that  I  met  the  soldiers,  the  detachment 
of  four  hundred,  after  being  about  three  hours  on  the 
road  !  They  were  a  fine  company  and  so  friendly  and 
pleased  to  see  me  !  Two  officers  were  with  them  in 
immaculate  foreign  uniforms,  very  superior,  intelligent 
men,  to  whom  I  explained  everything.  They  were 
most  unwilling  to  delay.  They  told  me  that  other 
companies  were  closing  in  on  the  brigands  from  the 
north  and  other  quarters,  and  that  if  they  hastened  on 


SEPARATED  23 

they  could  soon  surround  them  and  bring  the  prisoner 
back. 

"  But,"  I  said,  "  you  have  come  out  to  save  him. 
It  would  not  be  much  use  to  bring  back  a  lifeless  body  !  " 

They  asked  many  questions  as  to  the  numbers  and 
location  of  the  band,  and  finally  agreed  to  return  to  the 
top  of  the  hill,  where  they  had  a  telephone  installed,  and 
await  word  from  the  capital.  This  was  indeed  an  answer 
to  prayer,  for  they  were  actually  running  when  I  met 
them  and  would  soon  have  been  in  the  valley  in  which 
we  stayed  last  night.  I  told  them  that  this  hot  pursuit 
would  in  all  probability  have  cost  my  husband's  life. 

Later. 

Ah,  there  over  the  plain  rise  the  city  wall  and  gate — 
beautiful  against  that  background  of  blue-grey  moun- 
tains !  But  I  am  reaching  it  alone.  And  where  is  he 
to-night  ?  Both,  both  abiding  in  the  Love  and  Care 
that  never  were  more  tender,  more  watchful  than  now. 


CHAPTER  III 

A  LONG  NIGHT 

DID  ever  home  in  China,  or  indeed  anywhere,  seem 
more  beautiful,  more  restful  than  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Allen's  home  in  Yiinnanfu  that  February  evening  ? 
It  was  only  a  simple  Chinese  house  with  living- 
rooms  round  one  courtyard,  but  the  cleanliness  and 
quiet,  the  absence  of  fear,  the  loving  prayerful 
sympathy — how  healing  they  were  at  such  a  time  ! 
Practical  help,  too,  was  immediately  forthcoming. 
It  seemed  as  natural  to  Mr.  Allen  to  sit  down  and 
write  a  Chinese  letter  as  to  tie  up  a  parcel  or  prepare 
the  good  things  to  send  in  it.  And  how  eager  they 
all  were  to  provide  for  the  captives  whatever  might 
make  their  lot  easier  on  the  mountains  !  Experience 
had  made  them  wise,  and  many  things  I  should  not 
have  thought  of  were  kindly  supplied  by  Mrs.  Allen 
and  her  daughter,  Mrs.  Parker.  Had  they  not  had 
their  own  dear  one  for  six  weeks  at  the  mercy  of  the 
brigands  ?  Did  they  not  understand  just  what  it 
meant  by  day  and  night — the  filth  and  vermin,  the 
crowding  and  lack  of  privacy,  the  under-cooked  rice 
and  pork  for  every  meal,  the  thirst  and  weariness, 

24 


A  LONG  NIGHT  25 

to  say  nothing  of  greater  trials.  So  the  very  first 
evening,  parcels  were  made  up  and  letters  written 
after  our  visit  to  the  British  Consul. 

And  then  began  that  long,  long  waiting  amid 
alternate  hope  and  fear,  while  we  were  finding  out 
how  powerless  even  the  authorities  were  to  deal 
with  a  situation  that  seemed  to  grow  more  and  more 
difficult  before  our  eyes.  Politically  the  outlook 
was  becoming  desperate.  The  Provincial  Govern- 
ment was  tottering  to  its  fall,  and  the  Viceroy's  days 
were  numbered.  Already  he  was  in  the  field  with 
his  troops,  seeking  to  withstand  the  advance  of 
Marshall  T'ang,  the  redoubtable  foe  from  the  south 
who  was  more  or  less  in  league  with  the  brigands. 
The  Acting  Governor,  Kin,  had  all  he  could  do  to 
keep  peace  in  the  city,  and  fight  the  awful  scourge 
of  diphtheria  which  was  carrying  off  thousands .  The 
brigand  P'u  had  chosen  the  moment  well  to  press 
for  amnesty.  If  the  Government  could  have  trusted 
him  and  his  band,  they  might  have  been  received 
into  the  regular  army.  If  they  could  have  trusted 
the  Government,  they  might  have  laid  down  their 
arms  on  the  terms  offered.  But  a  dark  story  of 
treachery  and  blood  lay  behind  it  all,  and  could  not 
be  forgotten.  So  it  was  that  we  found  ourselves 
between  Scylla  and  Charybdis,  or  shall  we  say  in 
the  rapids,  rather,  sweeping  onward  to  a  Niagara  ? 
How  near  the  impending  revolution  was  we  did  not 
realise  at  first,  nor  the  way  in  which  it  would  be 
overruled  to  bring  deliverance.  We  could  only 
pray,  "  pray  without  ceasing,"  and  work  as  if  every- 


26          AMONG  CHINESE  BANDITS 

thing  depended  on  bringing  the  Government  and 
P'u  together. 

Meanwhile,  out  on  the  mountains,  the  soldiers 
were  pressing  their  pursuit  of  the  brigands. 

"  It  is  the  greatest  comfort  to  think  of  you  as  safely 
in  Yunnan,"  their  prisoner  wrote.  "  Many,  many 
times  have  I  been  thankful  you  went  when  I  asked  you 
to  ...  the  first  time  in  twenty-eight  years  that  I 
wanted  you  away  !  .  .  . 

"  I  am  very  well,  thank  God,  and  entirely  happy. 
One's  whole  heart  and  mind  are  at  rest  in  Him.  The 
day  you  left  me,  we  only  went  a  few  miles  to  a  cabin 
on  a  mountain  top  where  we  were  to  stay  indefinitely. 
One  was  glad  of  a  rest.  But  at  2  P.M.  a  shot  was  heard, 
and  all  was  at  once  in  a  stir.  A  few  minutes  later  we 
were  off,  and  as  we  started  a  number  of  shots  were  fired 
not  very  far  away.  The  men  almost  stampeded,  thinking 
the  soldiers  were  upon  us.  ...  We  travelled  fast — our 
few  belongings  on  one  horse  and  I  on  another.  .  .  . 
Dinner  at  six  was  welcome  :  you  remember  we  had 
breakfasted  together  about  7  A.M." 

Pressing  on  that  night  and  again  the  following 
morning  they  reached  a  clearing  among  fir-trees, 
high  up,  with  a  commanding  outlook.  It  seemed  a 
familiar  camping  ground,  for  there  were  booths  in 
readiness — little  more  than  semi-circular  wind- 
screens open  in  front — before  which  huge  fires  were 
soon  blazing.  And  there  Dr.  Taylor  was  handed 
over  to  a  young  "  Lieutenant- General  "  who  rode 
into  the  camp  in  great  style  on  a  beautiful  little  grey 


A  LONG  NIGHT  27 

stallion  with  a  brand-new  military  saddle,  and  with 
heavy  gold  bracelets  on  his  arms. 

Well  was  it  for  the  prisoner  that  this  young  man 
was  what  he  seemed,  "  quite  friendly,"  for  he  was 
none  other  than  Chang  Shao-wu,  who  had  caused 
Mr.  Parker  untold  distress.  In  cold-blooded  cruelty 
he  out-Heroded  Herod,  and  his  name  was  a  terror 
to  the  band  as  well  as  to  the  country-side.  Gladly 
would  he  have  taken  Mr.  Parker's  life,  once  and 
again,  had  not  P'u  restrained  him,  and  to  witness 
his  dreadful  deeds  was  the  worst  part  of  Mr.  Parker's 
captivity.  But,  as  he  gradually  discovered,  there 
was  a  reason  for  this  savagery.  Chang  had  been 
taken  not  long  before  as  a  spy  in  the  city,  but  saved 
his  life  by  a  daring  escape  from  prison.  In  reprisal 
the  soldiers  sent  out  to  his  village  murdered  his  wife 
and  children,  his  brother  and  brother's  wife,  and 
completely  wrecked  his  home.  Brooding  on  such 
a  tragedy,  little  wonder  the  young  outlaw  became 
reckless  and  revengeful.  But  time  had  softened 
his  spirit,  and  little  by  little  something  yet  more 
healing  began  to  work  in  his  heart. 

Had  it  not  been  so  our  experiences  might, 
humanly  speaking,  have  had  a  very  different 
ending.  For  the  authorities  in  the  city,  regardless 
of  our  representations,  decided  on  pressing  military 
tactics,  and  refused  to  deal  with  P'u  on  any  line  but 
that  of  unconditional  surrender.  Soon  a  thousand 
soldiers,  as  the  brigands  heard  and  believed,  were 
closing  in  around  them.  Two  of  their  people  had 
been  caught,  a  local  doctor  and  his  son,  and  when 


28          AMONG  CHINESE  BANDITS 

papers  were  found  on  the  former,  proving  him  to  be 
a  friend  of  P'u's,  he  was  immediately  executed. 
The  young  "  Colonel  "  who  had  threatened  our 
lives,  the  day  after  our  capture  was  also  taken  by 
the  military.  His  horse  and  modern  revolver  were 
valuable  prizes,  and  his  head  was  sent  in  to  the  city 
to  show  that  the  soldiers  were  doing  something. 
Such  doings,  of  course,  maddened  the  brigands, 
and  again  and  again  things  looked  threatening  for 
their  prisoner.  Had  not  Chang  Shao-wu  become 
his  friend  we  might  never  have  had  a  second  letter 
from  Dr.  Taylor.  As  it  was,  the  "  Lieutenant- 
General  "  sent  off  Li  Yen-ts'ing  post-haste,  at  a 
time  of  special  danger,  to  meet  the  soldiers  and  try 
to  stop  their  advance.  At  first  Li  and  Dr.  Taylor 
were  unwilling  to  part. 

"  No,"  they  said ;  "  if  we  must  die,  let  us  die 
together." 

But  when  Chang  insisted  that  it  was  the  only 
hope  of  saving  other  lives  as  well  as  their  own, 
the  sacrifice  was  made  and  Dr.  Taylor  was  left 
alone. 

Of  all  this  we  knew  nothing  until  a  voice  we 
hardly  recognised  was  heard  in  the  courtyard  one 
early  morning.  Could  it  be  Li  Yen-ts'ing  ? 
Travelling  all  night  he  had  reached  the  city  at 
dawn,  hoarse  and  strained  with  excitement  and 
fatigue.  For  his  interview  with  the  officers  of  the 
relief  force  had  not  been  satisfactory.  He  found 
that  they  were  advancing  upon  the  very  place  at 
which  Chang  Shao-wu  had  appointed  to  meet  him 


A  LONG  NIGHT  29 

that  night  or  the  following  morning.  It  was  too 
late  to  stop  them,  for  half  the  force  had  gone  on 
already,  and  Li  dared  not  return  to  this  rendezvous, 
seeing  that  Chang  would  certainly  conclude  he  had 
put  the  soldiers  on  their  track.  It  was  a  critical 
situation,  and  though  it  meant  leaving  Dr.  Taylor 
alone  indefinitely,  Li  felt  that  he  must  report  matters 
in  the  city. 

Without  waiting  for  breakfast,  we  took  him  just 
as  he  was  to  the  Consulate,  with  the  result  that  we 
obtained  our  first  interview  with  the  Governor  that 
day.  Waiting  at  the  long  Board  table  in  the  modern 
guest-hall,  it  was  with  some  trepidation  we  went 
over  our  line  of  argument.  The  Governor  could 
not  speak  English,  and  we  had  to  converse  with  him 
in  Chinese.  Champagne  and  cigarettes  were  brought 
in,  and  I  was  quite  able  to  understand  how  people 
might  welcome  them  under  similar  circumstances. 
But  we  had  something  better,  something  of  St. 
Paul's  experience  :  "  Notwithstanding,  the  Lord 
stood  with  me  and  strengthened  me." 

Even  more  was  that  strengthening  needed  in  the 
days  that  followed.  For  silence  had  fallen  between 
us  and  the  lonely  prisoner — silence  that  it  seemed 
could  only  have  one  meaning.  Our  interview  with 
the  Governor  had  been  promising.  He  had  said 
he  would  order  the  attack  on  P'u  to  be  suspended, 
and  had  given  us  a  letter  stamped  with  his  own  seal 
to  send  out  to  the  band,  promising  that  their  lives 
would  be  spared  if  they  surrendered  Dr.  Taylor  and 
laid  down  their  arms.  A  young  artist,  one  of  Mr. 


30          AMONG  CHINESE  BANDITS 

Allen's  church  members,  had  bravely  volunteered 
to  take  the  letter  and  remain  in  place  of  Li  Yen- 
ts'ing.  But  whether  he  had  found  Dr.  Taylor  or 
not  we  could  not  tell.  Several  letters  came  back 
that  we  had  sent  by  other  messengers — came  back 
unopened.  Not  a  line  or  a  word  reached  us  for  six 
days  and  nights  from  the  time  he  was  left  alone — 
that  time  of  special  danger.  Six  days  and  nights — 
how  long  they  can  be  when  one  is  waiting,  listening 
for  news  that  does  not  come  ! 

On  the  last  morning,  when  we  almost  felt  that 
any  news  would  be  better  than  none,  a  call  brought 
me  running  to  the  front  courtyard.  Letters  ? 
No  !  A  messenger  ?  No  !  But  some  Tribes- 
people  had  come  in — rough  charcoal-burners  from 
the  mountains. 

'  They  have  seen  him ;  it's  all  right,"  said  Mr. 
Allen  reassuringly. 

Again  the  men  told  their  story.  Two  days 
previously — on  Sunday  afternoon — they  had  passed 
a  band  of  about  sixty  brigands.  They  were  so 
frightened  that  they  hardly  dared  look  at  them,  but 
they  caught  sight  of  a  foreign  gentleman  riding  a 
white  horse  in  the  midst  of  the  band.  Yes,  he  was 
in  Chinese  dress,  but  they  were  sure  he  was  a 
foreigner.  He  had  a  sun-helmet  and  looked  no 
longer  young.  That  was  all — and  we  questioned 
and  cross-questioned  them  to  be  sure  of  the  story — 
but  oh,  it  was  as  water  to  a  thirsty  soul  ! 

'  The  men  looked  to  me  like  angels,"  one  wrote 
that  day.  "  They  could  tell  us  nothing  more ; 


A  LONG  NIGHT  31 

nothing  about  P'u  or  the  soldiers,  save  that  firing 
was  going  on." 

But  our  suspense  in  the  city  was  a  small  matter 
compared  with  the  loneliness  of  the  captive  on  the 
mountains.  He  had  no  chance  to  send  letters. 
Constantly  moving  from  place  to  place,  our 
messengers  could  not  find  him.  He  heard  nothing 
of  what  was  transpiring  in  the  city,  nothing  of  what 
the  brigands  were  planning,  and  to  learn  what  was 
going  on  about  him  could  only  watch  the  coarse  and 
often  cruel  faces  of  the  band. 

Fleeing  from  the  soldiers  was  their  principal 
occupation,  and  this  took  them  further  and  further 
back  into  the  mountains.  At  one  place  they  joined 
forces  with  two  or  three  hundred  more  bandits,  who 
had  with  them  a  whole  train  of  peasant  captives. 
On  the  whole,  the  outlaws  were  on  their  good 
behaviour,  hoping  to  secure  the  better  terms  from 
the  Government.  They  were  confident  that  if  they 
held  their  prisoner  long  enough  matters  would  be 
arranged  to  their  satisfaction.  And  they  were  quite 
prepared  to  hold  him  for  six  months  or  a  year.  So 
there  was  no  looting  that  he  could  see,  nor  any 
torture  of  the  village  people  to  exact  money. 

After  four  days  alone  there  was  one  outbreak 
that  was  terrible  to  witness.  They  were  climbing 
to  a  fir-topped  hill  when  a  peasant  who  had  been 
impressed  to  guide  them  was  seen  to  slink  away, 
afraid  perhaps  of  being  noticed  by  his  fellow- 
villagers.  Immediately  the  band  concluded  he  had 
been  leading  them  astray,  though  this  Dr.  Taylor 


32          AMONG  CHINESE  BANDITS 

could  not  tell  at  the  time.  He  only  saw  them  run 
and  catch  the  man,  who  was  dragged  back  and  beaten 
cruelly  with  the  butt-end  of  their  rifles.  At  last 
one  of  them  fixed  his  bayonet  and  seemed  about 
to  finish  him  on  the  spot.  By  this  time,  however, 
Dr.  Taylor's  intervention  prevailed,  and  the  poor 
creature  was  taken  to  their  camp  and  lashed  to  a 
tree  with  his  hands  behind  his  back.  Without  food 
or  covering  he  was  to  be  left  standing  there  all 
night ;  but  after  supper  his  fellow-prisoner  obtained 
permission  for  him  to  have  a  basin  of  rice,  and  when 
he  was  tied  up  again  it  was  in  a  less  painful  position. 
Later  on  the  same  friend  took  an  oiled  sheet  and 
wrapped  it  round  him,  that  he  might  have  some 
protection  from  the  cold  March  wind. 

Sleeping  himself  near  by,  Dr.  Taylor  was  un- 
conscious of  a  stranger  who  came  up  quietly  and 
sat  down  beside  him  under  the  trees.  It  was  Ch'en 
Wen-an,  who  had  volunteered  to  take  the  place  of 
Li  Yen-ts'ing  and  was  the  bearer  of  longed-for 
letters.  Glad  as  he  was  to  have  found  the  band, 
it  was  almost  with  fear  he  waited  for  the  sleeper  to 
waken.  What  had  been  his  experiences  ?  What 
would  be  his  first  words  ?  If  he  were  suffering  and 
downhearted,  or  pained  at  being  left  so  long  alone, 
what  could  the  watcher  do  or  say  ?  Just  then  the 
tired  eyes  opened. 

"  Who  are  you  ?  "  was  the  smiling  question. 

And  when  he  knew :  "  Oh,  let  us  praise  the  Lord 
together  !  How  good  of  you  to  come  !  " 

Never  could  the  young  man  forget,  he  told  us, 


A  LONG  NIGHT  33 

the  blessing  of  that  hour.  To  find  any  one  really 
happy  and  satisfied  under  such  trying  circumstances 
was  a  revelation,  somewhat  as  the  songs  of  Paul  and 
Silas  must  have  been  in  the  Philippian  jail. 

And  there  was  added  joy  next  day,  for  another 
friend  found  them,  a  brother  of  Li  Yen-ts'ing's, 
who  had  also  come  at  the  risk  of  his  own  life  to 
keep  Dr.  Taylor  company.  Such  love  in  Christ  is 
indeed  beyond  price. 

"  We  have  just  had  evening  worship  together," 
Dr.  Taylor  wrote  that  Sunday,  "  and  I  trust  it  has 
been  a  time  of  blessing  to  us  all.  One  is  just  living 
in  prayer  these  days.  .  .  .  Everything  seems  going 
well,  thank  God,  and  my  three  nights  on  mountain- 
tops  have  done  me  no  harm.  I  am  very  well  and 
very  happy,  though  of  course  the  unsanitary  sur- 
roundings and  crowding  are  often  a  trial." 

And  on  the  envelope  he  added  :  "  No  wind, 
thank  God  !  Slept  well  all  night  and  am  refreshed. 
'  Lo,  I  am  with  you  all  the  days,'  is  no  vain  promise, 
is  it  ?  I  am  kept  in  perfect  peace." 

That  that  keeping  was  a  reality  was  still  more 
evident  as  the  long  weeks  went  on.  A  visit  from 
"  General  "  P'u  made  it  manifest  that  the  brigands 
were  not  prepared  to  surrender  on  the  Governor's 
terms.  They  had  no  confidence  even  in  his  written 
promise,  and  pointed  to  the  fact  that  the  soldiers 
were  still  pressing  them,  though  he  had  said  to  us 
that  they  would  be  withdrawn.  Matters  could  not 
go  on  like  that,  and  P'u  had  drafted  eight  require- 
ments to  be  forwarded  to  the  Governor,  with  a 

D 


34          AMONG  CHINESE  BANDITS 

statement  that  unless  the  troops  were  actually  re- 
called within  three  days  Dr.  Taylor  would  be 
executed  without  mercy. 

How  much  there  was  in  this  threat  he  could  not 
tell ;  but  it  was  evident  that  if  serious  fighting  took 
place  and  some  of  the  brigands  were  killed,  even 
"  General  "  Chang  would  be  unable  to  protect  him. 
To  avoid  a  collision  the  band  went  off  after  P'u  had 
left  them,  and  for  six  nights  in  that  stormy  March 
weather  they  slept  on  mountain-sides,  at  an  altitude 
of  eight  or  nine  thousand  feet,  with  no  roof  over 
their  heads.  By  a  mere  goat-track  they  went  up  a 
valley  so  steep  and  narrow  that  twice  over  the  horse 
carrying  the  "  kitchen  "  slipped  and  rolled  down 
into  the  stream.  Happily  he  and  his  load  were 
recoverable,  though  they  had  to  be  taken  a  long  way 
back  to  get  on  to  the  path  again.  No  supper  was 
to  be  had  that  night  till  12  P.M.,  and  it  was  hungrily 
they  waited  round  their  fires  in  the  little  clearing 
among  the  trees. 

From  one  of  these  hiding-places  their  prisoner 
wrote  : 

You  must  not  overestimate  my  trials ;  I  have  much 
every  day  to  give  thanks  for,  especially  dear  Li,  and  for 
the  friendliness,  courtesy  and  cheeriness  of  the  men. 
You  know  I  love  to  see  people  cheerful.  Then  the 
weather  has  been  a  great  mercy — comparatively  warm 
and  fine  !  The  shower  we  had  last  night  hardly  wetted 
our  things.  The  diet  too  has  done  me  great  good,  and 
so  has  the  open-air  life  and  horse  exercise.  I  am  sure 
you  would  see  my  figure  improved  ! 


A  LONG  NIGHT  35 

Li  Sheng-chii  is  just  splendid — level-headed,  a 
"  good  mixer  "  and  so  loving  and  thoughtful  !  I  awoke 
to  find  him  holding  an  umbrella  so  as  to  shelter  us  both 
from  the  rain  at  4.30  this  morning,  crouching  by  my 
side.  He  had  already  spread  an  oiled  sheet  over  me. 
And  about  the  three  days'  limit,  he  took  pains  to 
explain  that  this  was  only  a  threat  to  impress  the 
Acting  Governor.  His  brother  would,  I  think,  have 
taken  it  literally.  .  .  .  We  have  good  times  together 
in  prayer  and  over  the  Word.  Such  a  big  blessing 
he  is  ! 

I  am  certainly  in  much  more  "  rugged  "  health  than 
when  we  were  taken,  and  I  have  learned  a  health  lesson 
of  considerable  importance — the  benefit  of  being  hungry 
for  one,  two  or  three  hours  several  times  a  day.  For  me, 
a  full  basin  of  rice  for  breakfast  any  time  between  seven 
and  nine,  for  dinner  between  one  and  four,  and  for 
supper  between  eight  and  eleven,  with  as  much  fat  pork 
and  greens  as  one  cares  for,  and  occasionally  chicken, 
fish  or  bean-curd,  is  an  ideal  dietary.  Tea,  I  take  about 
once  a  day,  at  most  twice,  and  not  strong.  As  to  trials : 
the  suspense,  opium  fumes,  crowding  and  vermin — 
from  which  I  keep  fairly  free — and  the  monotonous 
loitering  are  among  the  chief.  But  God  has,  as  always, 
been  as  good  as  His  word  :  "As  thy  day  so  shall  thy 
strength  be."  One  has  not  been  tried  more  than  one 
could  bear ;  and  the  benefits  are  obvious.  You  see,  I 
tell  you  both  sides,  and  dear  Parker  can  expand  my  brief 
categories  from  his  own  larger  experience. 

After  a  whole  week  in  which  he  had  not  been  able 
to  undress  or  change  his  clothes,  it  was  a  comfort 
to  return  to  the  village  where  P'u  had  left  them — a 


36          AMONG  CHINESE  BANDITS 

favourite  haunt  of  his — and  to  find  letters  and  news 
from  the  city.    And  in  reply  he  wrote  : 

It  was  good  to  hear  to-day  of  the  release  of  the  ladies — 
one  of  them  wounded  though,  I  am  sorry  to  say — and 
that  the  troops  have  been  withdrawn  to  the  capital.  The 
men  evidently  feel  these  things  to  be  answers  to  prayer.1 
So  many  of  them  want  to  turn  over  a  new  leaf,  and 
"  General  "  Chang  is  a  changed  man,  utterly  different 
from  the  person  Mr.  Parker  describes — so  kind  and 
courteous  and  thoughtful  !  He  gives  heed  to  the  Word, 
calls  for  quiet  when  we  pray,  and  given  a  reasonable 
chance  I  believe  he  sincerely  intends  to  become  a 
Christian  and  break  off  opium.  From  the  first  we  have 
had  audible  thanksgiving  before  every  meal,  and  Li 
and  I  pray  together  audibly  at  least  twice  a  day,  morning 
and  evening.  God  is  working,  praise  His  name  ! 
They  have  repeatedly  told  me  that  all  robbery  has  been 
stopped  since  we  were  taken. 

There  was  something  very  pathetic  about  the 
situation,  which  was  as  anomalous  as  it  well  could 
be — the  hard-pressed  Government,  unwilling  to 
make  terms  with  the  brigands  and  yet  unable  to 
deal  with  them  in  any  other  way  ;  the  outlaws 
suffering  for  their  crimes,  and  yet  perhaps  more 
sinned  against  than  sinning  ;  the  poor  distracted 
people,  relieved  for  the  moment  but  not  daring  to 
breathe  freely  ;  and  we  ourselves,  feeling  for  all 
sides,  conscious  of  the  increasing  friendliness  of  the 

1  They  had  heard  the  prayers  offered  daily  by  their  camp- 
fires  about  these  and  other  matters.  The  ladies  were  wives  of 
brigand  officers,  taken  as  hostages  by  the  soldiery. 


A  LONG  NIGHT  37 

men  who  threatened  our  lives,  and  praying  for  their 
deliverance  as  well  as  our  own,  though  hope  seemed 
to  grow  less  and  less. 

For  the  reply  of  the  Governor  to  P'u's  eight 
requirements  was  merely  a  restatement  of  the  old 
position — surrender,  on  the  promise  that  a  written 
pardon  should  be  given  to  all  who  laid  down  their 
arms.  The  latter  were  to  be  purchased  from  the 
brigands  at  their  full  worth,  and  a  duplicate  of  the 
written  pardon  would  be  lodged  with  the  Provincial 
Assembly.  It  sounded  all  right ;  but  as  everybody 
knew,  you  might  as  well  ask  a  brigand  to  lay  down 
his  head  as  to  give  up  his  arms.  Practically  it 
meant  one  and  the  same  thing. 

But  at  this  juncture  an  unexpected  development 
took  place.  P'u  had  again  arrived  on  the  scene 
bringing  with  him  his  cabinet  council — several 
so-called  Secretaries,  and  six  or  eight  responsible- 
looking  men.  Concerning  this,  Dr.  Taylor  wrote  : 

At  our  noon  interview,  when  the  leaders  conferred 
together  over  the  Consul's  letter,  the  only  ray  of  light 
was  that  they  listened  to  what  one  had  to  say,  and  that 
when  a  fierce  young  Secretary  shouted  in  my  ear  that 
I  must  write  and  tell  "  them  "  that  they  really  wanted 
to  chao-an  (join  the  regular  army),  and  that  if  "  they  "  did 
not  let  them  I  should  be  killed ;  and  I  replied  courteously 
that  of  course  they  could  kill  their  friend  if  they  wished, 
but  that  it  would  not  help  the  situation.  P'u  said 
kindly  and  reassuringly  for  the  first  time  that  they  had 
no  thought  of  killing  me ;  only  if  troops  were  sent  against 
them  he  could  not  be  answerable  for  the  consequences. 


38          AMONG  CHINESE  BANDITS 

I  was  kept  free  from  fear,  thank  God,  though  it  is 
painful  for  a  deaf  man  to  be  discussed  in  this  sort  of 
corroberee. 

It  was  an  exciting  time.  A  hundred  and  twenty 
to  a  hundred  and  forty  brigands  had  gathered  for 
the  conclave,  and  the  houses  of  the  village  were 
crowded.  Something  was  disturbing  the  company 
more  than  their  prisoner  realised  until  one  of  the 
Secretaries  came  and  gave  him  the  surprising  in- 
formation that  two  men  named  Ch'en  and  Yang 
had  been  arrested  somewhere,  and  that  if  they  were 
returned  he  himself  would  at  once  be  released. 
Released  !  What  could  it  mean  ?  The  men  had 
nothing  to  do  with  "  General  "  P'u,  the  Secretary 
said,  and  it  seemed  strange  that  their  lives  should  be 
of  so  much  importance  to  the  band.  Dr.  Taylor 
was  inclined  to  think  that  there  was  nothing  in  it ; 
that  the  Secretary  was  just  making  fun  of  him,  or 
trying  to  get  help  for  some  friends  of  his  own.  He 
asked  for  the  names  in  writing,  and  the  young  man 
pulled  out  his  pocket-book  and  wrote  as  from  his 
Commander-in-  Chief : 

Third  moon,  first  day.  In  the  city  two  men  have 
been  carried  off,  Ch'en  and  Yang.  Let  them  be  re- 
leased at  once  and  there  is  hope  for  Dr.  Taylor  :  other- 
wise, he  will  be  killed  without  pity. 

And,  strange  to  say,  this  proved  to  be  P'u's 
message.  For  he  came  himself,  and  before  a 
number  of  witnesses  endorsed  the  promise.  Five 


A  LONG  NIGHT  39 

names  were  subsequently  added  to  the  list,  making 
a  total  of  seven. 

"  If  these  people  are  set  free  you  will  be  set 
free,"  he  said.  "  Now  write  letters,  and  send 
quickly  into  the  city." 

After  the  messenger  was  gone  it  all  seemed  like 
a  dream.  Could  it  indeed  be  that  deliverance  was 
so  near  ?  Late  that  night,  when  his  companions 
were  sleeping  or  smoking  opium,  Dr.  Taylor  wrote 
in  the  crowded  room  : 

The  thing  that  happened  to-day  was  certainly 
mysterious.  One  cannot  but  connect  it  with  your 
fasting  and  prayer  on  Thursday,  and  the  many  who  are 
remembering  us  before  the  Lord.  ...  I  need  hardly 
say  I  sincerely  hope  the  Consul  may  be  prospered  in 
securing  the  release  of  those  people  without  much  delay. 
That  the  band  should  be  inclined  to  release  me  on  such 
an  exchange  is  indeed  a  miracle. 

While  awaiting  the  reply  from  the  city,  it  was 
little  wonder  that  there  were  alternations  of  hope 
and  fear. 

From  San-kia,  where  they  spent  the  rest  of  the 
week,  he  wrote : 

Yesterday  was  a  difficult  day  for  us  both.  After 
breakfast  I  was  feeling  a  bit  seedy  and  inclined  to  be 
despondent — dear  Parker  will  understand  and  so  will 
you.  This  will  never  do,  one  felt.  This  is  no  time  to 
be  slack  !  So,  at  once,  I  sought  grace  and  courage 
where  they  are  never  sought  in  vain.  And  I  was  granted 
complete  deliverance. 


40          AMONG  CHINESE  BANDITS 

Soon  after  our  2  P.M.  dinner,  dear  Li  Sheng-chu 
( God's  good  gift  to  me)  came  with  a  face  like  a  thunder- 
cloud, hopeless,  indignant,  tried  beyond  endurance. 
I  need  not  repeat  what  he  said  ;  the  substance  was  that 
these  "  Brothers  "  were  beyond  hope,  not  one  of  them 
would  be  saved  !  Some  one  had  told  him  apparently 
that  there  was  no  thought  whatever  of  releasing  me  ; 
all  they  wanted  was  the  liberation  of  their  friends. 

I  suggested  that  he  might  be  mistaken,  saying  that 
my  own  impression  was  that  the  promise  was  sincere 
and  would  be  kept. 

"  Probably  some  one  has  been  trying  to  tease  us," 
I  added.  "  Was  it  the  fierce  Secretary  ?  " 

I  think  he  nodded  assent.  I  reminded  him  that  you 
were  all  praying,  as  well  as  we.  Then  we  turned  to  the 
Word  and  read  promise  after  promise  till  he  could  smile 
again,  somewhat  wistfully,  and  peace  of  heart  was  re- 
stored. We  have  much  fellowship  together  in  reading 
and  prayer  day  by  day. 

To-day,  further  to  reassure  him,  we  have  been  re- 
membering that  our  confidence  is  in  God — Almighty 
God — not  man,  and  that  keen  and  eager  as  we  are  for 
deliverance,  God's  time  is  best.  "  The  Lord  knoweth 
how  to  deliver  "  and  when  to  deliver.  We  talked  over 
Ps.  40  also :  "  I  delight  to  do  Thy  will,  O  my  God,"  and 
Ps.  18 :  "  As  for  God,  His  way  is  perfect,"  and  "  He 
maketh  my  way  perfect."  Li  is  helped  and  so  am  I. 
Our  Psalm  for  to-day,  the  sixty-eighth,  is  full  of  en- 
couragement, is  it  not  ?  .  .  .  Now,  thank  God,  I  am 
just  about  as  happy,  facing  this  uncertainty,  as  I  was 
before.  Of  course  I  shall  feel  it  for  you  intensely  if 
there  is  further  delay.  But  the  Comforter  is  with  you, 
even  our  Lord  Himself ;  the  other  Comforter  also, 


A  LONG  NIGHT  41 

Who  brings  forth  in  us"  love,  joy,  peace,  long-suffering  " 
and  the  rest. 

As  the  days  went  slowly  by,  he  could  not  but 
wonder  at  the  delay.  And  we  in  the  city  could  not 
but  wonder  too.  The  Consul  had  taken  up  the 
matter  warmly,  going  at  once  to  the  authorities  to 
ask  for  the  release  of  the  seven  prisoners  in  exchange 
for  Dr.  Taylor.  To  our  great  thankfulness,  he 
found  he  was  just  in  time  to  save  one  of  them,  and 
another  of  P'u's  people,  both  of  whom  were  to  have 
been  executed  that  day.  But  they  were  not  the 
two  whom  P'u  most  wanted.  Strange  to  say, 
nothing  seemed  known  of  these  men.  The  list  was 
left  with  the  General,  but  all  the  Consul  could  learn 
was  that  Ch'en  and  Yang  could  not  be  traced.  This 
was  disappointing  news  to  send  out  to  the  moun- 
tains, the  more  so  as  Mr.  Allen  had  received  an 
anonymous  letter  urgently  pleading  for  their  lives. 
It  all  seemed  mysterious,  and  the  Consul  pressed 
his  investigations. 

After  a  further  conversation  with  P'u,  who  was 
restive  under  the  delay,  Dr.  Taylor  wrote  : 

Things  look  difficult.  He  would  like  to  add  to  my 
ransom  two  more  men,  also  two  revolvers  and  a  horse 
taken  by  the  soldiers.  But  in  the  course  of  conversation 
he  said  :  "If  those  seven  people  are  released  and  I  do 
not  release  you,  I  shall  be  tui-puh-chu  Shang-Ti  " — 
under  the  displeasure  of  God. 

So  I  still  think,  if  this  can  by  any  possibility  be 
arranged,  he  will  keep  his  word.  You  know  how  he 


42          AMONG  CHINESE  BANDITS 

changed  overnight  about  you,  and  that  is  characteristic 
of  the  man.  But  he  has  a  sense  of  honour.  .  .  .  His 
proposal  was  to-day :  "  Let  those  people  be  sent  to 
Ta-sao  and  we  will  send  you  there  in  exchange." 
Humanly  speaking,  it  seems  my  one  hope,  and  not  such 
a  faint  hope  either. 

Alas,  the  writer  little  knew  that  a  few  hours 
earlier  the  two  men  P'u  was  so  keen  to  save  had 
been  taken  out  to  the  city  gate,  by  Government 
order,  and  deliberately  shot.  There  was  no  dis- 
guising then  how  serious  the  situation  was. 


CHAPTER  IV 

REUNITED 

THE  execution  of  the  two  men  we  had  pleaded  for, 
and  on  whose  liberation  so  much  seemed  to  depend, 
had  taken  place  publicly,  and  the  band  heard  of  it 
before  the  news  could  reach  Dr.  Taylor.  It  was 
not  surprising  that  they  should  be  exasperated. 
The  only  wonder  was  that  they  did  not  at  once 
retaliate  by  "  executing  "  their  prisoner.  Some- 
thing stayed  their  hands.  But  with  depleted 
exchequer  and  all  hope  of  reconciliation  with  the 
Government  at  an  end,  they  saw  nothing  for  it  but 
to  return  to  brigandage.  They  would  forthwith 
attack  the  prosperous  town  of  K'o-lang,  and  their 
prisoner  should  go  with  them.  Some  urged  that 
he  should  be  put  in  front  of  the  attacking  party, 
so  that  he  might  be  "  accidentally  "  shot.  Chang 
Shao-wu  would  not  hear  of  this  however,  and  told 
off  a  few  men  to  keep  him  in  the  rear  as  they  rode 
down  from  the  mountains. 

Long  before  daylight  the  brigands  had  been 
stirring.  There  were  now  two  hundred  and  fifty 
in  the  company,  and  seeing  that  something  unusual 
was  in  progress  Li  Shen-chii  asked  the  reason. 

43 


44  AMONG  CHINESE  BANDITS 

"  We  are  taking  K'o-lang  to-day,"  he  was  told, 
"  and  you  must  help  to  arrange  the  ransom  the 
townspeople  will  have  to  pay." 

It  was  a  Sunday  morning,  and  in  anguish  of  heart, 
knowing  so  well  what  these  men  were  capable  of, 
he  said  to  Dr.  Taylor  : 

"  Burning  they  will  burn  and  killing  they  will 
kill  " — meaning,  we  are  powerless  to  prevent  it. 

What  all  this  meant  to  the  captive  missionary  the 
following  extracts  from  his  letters  show : 

I  was  overwhelmed  with  the  horror  of  it  all,  and,  as 
we  rode  toward  the  unsuspecting  town,  cried  to  God 
with  groanings  that  could  not  be  uttered  to  manifest 
His  almighty  and  infinite  love.  And  He  spoke  to  me. 
On  the  way  we  passed  a  wild-rose  bush  covered  with 
great  white  flowers,  the  first  of  the  season,  and  what  a 
message  of  comfort  they  brought  !  And  then  I  caught 
sight  of  an  orchid  so  beautiful  that  I  had  to  dismount 
to  gather  it.  It  was  magenta  and  white,  the  waxy 
petals  tinted  with  every  shade  from  the  palest  mauve- 
pink  to  the  deepest  purple.  It  was  the  most  exquisite 
blossom  I  ever  saw. 

"  God  is  near,"  it  said  unmistakably,  "  and  God  is 
love." 

Then  we  found  that  "  General  "  Chang  had  given 
orders  that  we  were  to  turn  aside  a  mile  or  so  above 
K'o-lang  and  wait  in  the  woods.  This  was  a  merciful 
relief ;  and  there  one  gradually  regained  peace  and  poise, 
though  suffering  keenly.  For  we  could  see,  across  the 
valley,  the  burning  of  two  villages  near  K'o-lang.  The 
town  itself  was  holding  out.  It  had  local  militia  well 


REUNITED  45 

entrenched,  and  with  a  protecting  wall  was  keeping  the 
bandits  at  bay.  This  was  wholly  unexpected  on  our 
side,  and  led  to  prolonged  fighting.  For  two  hours  we 
waited  in  the  clearing  among  the  pines,  in  full  view  of  the 
burning  villages — seeing  first  the  columns  of  smoke 
rising  from  house  after  house,  then  flames  leaping  up 
twenty  and  thirty  feet  high.  The  people  had  all  fled ; 
but  half  a  dozen  of  the  largest  farm-houses  in  each 
village  were  burned  in  this  way,  to  terrorise  the  town 
into  submission. 

From  this  clearing  we  moved  down  to  "  General  " 
Chang's  headquarters  in  a  suburb  near  the  town,  where 
there  was  much  coming  and  going  and  excitement. 
They  were  making  no  headway,  and  the  affair  was 
getting  serious  for  the  brigands.  One  just  quietly 
prayed  on.  After  we  had  been  there  some  time,  Chang 
ordered  our  little  company  out  to  a  place  a  mile  or  so 
away.  There  my  guard  broke  into  a  fine  house,  the 
best  in  the  village,  hammering  with  stones  at  the  lock  of 
the  front  entrance  until  it  gave  way.  The  place  was 
empty,  everybody  having  fled  in  terror;  but  we  took 
possession  and  cooked  and  ate  a  meal.  Then  we  set 
out  again  and  climbed  to  the  village  high  up  among  the 
mountains  where  we  had  spent  the  previous  night.  It 
was  a  hidden  spot,  and  thither  Chang  and  his  men 
retired  when  they  were  finally  beaten  off  by  a  successful 
sortie  from  K'o-lang. 

The  rest  of  that  Sunday  was  spent  in  caring  for  the 
casualties,  no  easy  matter  under  the  circumstances. 
One  of  Chang's  men  had  been  killed  and  four  were 
badly  wounded,  one  at  least  mortally,  I  fear.  He  had  a 
compound  fracture  of  the  thigh  at  the  upper  end,  and 
it  took  a  long  time  to  dress  the  wounds  and  prepare  and 


46          AMONG  CHINESE  BANDITS 

pad  four  splints — one  to  extend  from  the  foot  to  the 
arm-pit — and  to  bind  them  on  without  strapping  or 
bandages.  One  just  did  the  best  one  could  for  the  poor 
fellow.  I  trust  his  homeward  journey  on  a  stretcher 
would  be  a  good  deal  easier  in  consequence. 

When  darkness  fell  at  length,  it  was  not  re- 
assuring to  learn  from  "  General  "  Chang  that  the 
attack  was  to  be  renewed  the  following  morning. 
"  We  must  take  the  place,"  he  said,  and  his  hearers 
could  well  picture  the  vengeance  that  would  be 
wreaked  on  its  unfortunate  inhabitants.  Still, 
prayer  had  been  so  wonderfully  answered  already 
that  they  were  encouraged  to  pray  on,  asking 
especially  that  Chang  and  P'u  might  be  under  the 
restraining  hand  of  God. 

Next  morning  they  rose  at  dawn  and  had  break- 
fast before  setting  out.  Chang  ate  nothing  and 
seemed  very  quiet.  Expecting  to  return  to  K'o- 
lang,  what  was  Dr.  Taylor's  thankfulness  to  find 
the  cavalcade  taking  another  direction.  Even  of 
Li  he  scarcely  ventured  to  make  any  enquiries. 
Southward  along  the  ridge  separating  two  valley 
systems  they  rode  mile  after  mile,  until  it  was 
evident  that  Chang's  plans  were  completely  changed. 
The  man  himself  seemed  changed  too.  Meeting  a 
large  drove  of  pack-horses,  his  men  flew  upon  them. 
The  unfortunate  drivers  disappeared  ;  the  beasts 
stampeded,  but  were  soon  brought  back,  and  thirty 
more  brigands  secured  mounts  to  their  great  satis- 
faction. But  when  "  General  "  Chang  appeared 
they  had  promptly  to  resign  them.  He  was  very 


REUNITED  47 

angry,  and  ordered  the  animals  to  be  at  once 
restored  to  their  owners.  It  was  a  courageous 
thing  to  do,  for  he  was  one  man  against  a  hundred 
or  two ;  but  no  one  questioned  his  authority,  though 
they  watched  him  with  surprise.  He  had  taken  no 
breakfast.  There  was  no  dinner  that  day.  And 
when  supper  came,  after  eleven  hours  without  food, 
he  ate  very  little.  To  his  prisoner  it  seemed  that 
he  was  purposely  fasting  in  a  contrite  spirit,  and  his 
heart  went  out  more  than  ever  in  prayer  for  him 
and  the  band. 

Meanwhile,  strange  were  the  happenings  that 
succeeded  one  another  with  dramatic  rapidity  in  the 
city.  A  crisis  had  come  in  the  struggle  between 
the  Military  Governor,  Ku,  and  his  former  chief, 
Marshal  T'ang,  that  requires  elucidation.  The 
latter  had  been  Governor  of  the  province  only  three 
years  before,  and  Ku  had  been  his  right-hand 
General.  During  his  campaign  against  the  neigh- 
bouring province  of  Szechwan,  he  had  turned  against 
T'ang,  and  with  his  army  had  joined  the  northern 
or  Peking  Government.  On  receiving  a  message 
from  Ku  that  he  was  returning  to  Yunnan,  and  that 
his  former  chief  might  either  fight  or  retire,  T'ang 
decided  to  do  the  latter  while  he  could  carry  all  the 
Government  treasure  with  him.  He  made  good 
his  escape  with  fifteen  million  dollars  in  gold,  minted 
in  his  own  mint,  and  fell  back  on  Canton.  Ku  had 
then  established  himself  as  Governor  of  the  Yunnan 
province,  bringing  from  Szechwan  the  enormous 
wealth  he  had  gained  in  loot.  As  a  ruler  he  was 


48          AMONG  CHINESE  BANDITS 

fairly  successful,  but  he  made  one  great  mistake  in 
his  dealings  with  the  brigands.  Under  T'ang,  their 
chief  leader  in  the  province  had  been  granted 
amnesty — a  man  named  Yang  Tien-fuh,  young, 
gifted,  and  with  a  large  following.  Over  twenty 
thousand  outlaws  had  submitted  with  him,  and  they 
came  and  went  in  the  capital  as  regular  soldiers. 
T'ang  had  thus  delivered  the  province  from  the 
worst  ravages  of  the  brigands,  whom  he  hoped  to 
bring  more  and  more  under  military  discipline,  and 
who  regarded  him  as  their  patron  if  not  friend. 

Ku  was  a  man  of  a  different  type.  He  was 
decidedly  not  the  friend  of  brigands,  and  regarded 
Yang  Tien-fuh  with  increasing  suspicion.  To  his 
surprise,  the  latter  was  put  under  surveillance,  and 
for  a  month  or  more  was  kept  as  a  sort  of  prisoner. 
Then  he  was  invited  to  a  mysterious  banquet.  The 
Governor  was  not  present,  and  he  could  not  under- 
stand the  attitude  of  the  officials  and  gentry  who  were. 

"  What  is  the  occasion  for  this  feast  ?  "  he  finally 
enquired. 

"  Oh,  we  are  inviting  you  to  be  our  guest  to-day, 
outside  the  West  Gate,"  was  the  heartless  response 
— which  meant  that  he  was  condemned  to  death. 

"  Put  me  on  the  'phone  to  the  Governor,"  he 
demanded  hoarsely. 

This  was  done,  and  when  he  asked  if  what  he  had 
heard  were  true— 

"  Yes,  yes,"  was  the  uneasy  reply.  "  They  all 
tell  me  it  must  be."  And  the  Governor  put  down 
the  receiver. 


REUNITED  49 

Outside  the  West  Gate,  Yang  Tien-fuh  was  shot 
that  day  in  cold  blood,  and  his  young  wife  when  she 
heard  of  it  took  his  place  at  the  head  of  the  brigand 
troops  that  made  their  escape  from  the  city.  Two 
men  also  resumed  command  who  had  been  Yang's 
trusted  leaders,  one  a  General  named  Wu  and  the 
other  our  friend,  P'u  Shu-ming. 

The  latter  was  specially  devoted  to  Yang  Tien- 
fuh,  whose  sister  he  had  married,  and  was  to  have 
been  killed  with  him.  But  he  was  standing  in  his 
doorway  when  a  troop  of  soldiers  turned  into  the 
lane,  and  though  he  knew  nothing  of  what  had 
happened,  his  practised  eye  could  tell  that  some- 
thing was  on  hand. 

"  It  may  be  me  they  are  after,"  flashed  into  his 
mind. 

Quick  as  thought  he  jumped  the  garden  wall 
behind  the  house  and  hid  in  a  drain.  For  two  days 
and  nights  they  searched  the  city  to  find  him,  but 
his  hiding-place  was  safe,  if  obnoxious,  and  P'u 
escaped  with  his  life. 

Then,  of  course,  brigandage  was  worse  than  ever 
— Wu  in  the  south  with  Yang  Tien-fuh's  widow, 
and  P'u  in  the  north,  doing  all  they  could  to  harry 
the  Government  as  well  as  enrich  themselves  at  the 
expense  of  the  people.  The  young  widow,  despite 
her  tiny  bound  feet,  rode  at  the  head  of  the  outlaws 
with  a  huge  flag  bearing  the  inscription :  "  To  be 
avenged  for  the  death  of  my  husband."  And 
avenged  she  surely  was  ! 

For  Marshal  T'ang  was  not  inactive.  Gradually 

E 


50          AMONG  CHINESE  BANDITS 

he  had  gathered  an  army  together,  and  at  the  time 
of  our  connection  with  the  brigands  he  was  fighting 
his  way  back  to  the  city  of  Yunnan.  At  first 
General  Ku  and  his  party  poured  scorn  upon  the 
effort,  placarding  the  city  with  vituperous  posters 
and  fulminating  against  T'ang  as  "  the  friend  of  the 
brigands."  But  it  was  the  brigands  who  were  their 
downfall,  for  they  flocked  to  the  Marshal's  standard. 
As  the  conglomerate  army  moved  forward,  con- 
sternation reigned  in  the  capital,  then  almost  panic. 
People  were  beside  themselves,  seeking  a  safe 
deposit  for  their  valuables.  Of  course  the  brigands, 
if  T'ang  were  successful,  would  loot  the  city ;  the  only 
safety  would  be  under  the  protection  of  foreigners  ! 

So  the  Consuls  and  foreign  residents  were 
crowded  almost  out  of  house  and  home.  The 
distracted  wives  of  General  Ku  took  refuge  with 
the  English  head  of  a  Life  Insurance  Company,  who 
was  already  sheltering  ladies  and  children  related  to 
T'ang's  officers.  Missionary  homes  were  invaded 
in  the  same  way — boxes  full  of  money,  jewels  and 
rich  clothing  being  piled  up  in  every  available  corner, 
and  whole  families  crowding  into  a  single  room  with 
their  servants  and  slaves.  Whether  the  brigands 
would  respect  the  homes  of  foreigners,  if  looting 
really  began,  who  could  tell  ?  But  it  was  useless  to 
question  the  authorities. 

"  We  are  in  the  midst  of  a  revolution,"  was  all 
the  answer  we  could  get  to  some  enquiry  about 
Dr.  Taylor's  matters.  "  We  are  in  the  midst  of  a 
revolution  ;  nobody  knows  what  will  happen." 


REUNITED  51 

At  the  last  moment  the  Government  had  changed 
its  tone  with  regard  to  P'u  and  his  men,  and  seemed 
willing  to  meet  them  in  a  compromise  that  had  been 
suggested.  Perhaps  they  hoped,  even  yet,  to  keep 
them  from  joining  Marshal  T'ang.  For  some  days 
we  had  been  negotiating  an  arrangement  by  which 
P'u  was  to  police  the  district  of  which  he  was 
practically  king,  undertaking  to  put  down  oppression 
and  robbery  and  to  make  all  roads  safe  for  travellers, 
paying  himself  and  a  small  force  of  his  men  out  of 
the  regular  taxes.  The  rest  were  to  be  disbanded 
and  go  home,  as  they  desired,  to  their  farms  and 
trades.  But  good  as  the  project  seemed,  it  was  not 
to  be  carried  into  effect.  Government  officials  were 
vanishing  one  by  one,  and  Ku  himself  was  face  to 
face  on  the  battlefield  with  the  followers  of  the 
man  he  had  treacherously  murdered  and  with  that 
vengeful  banner. 

Yet  a  definite  consciousness  that  deliverance  was 
at  hand  had  come  to  me.  A  week  earlier  one  had 
written  : 

How  it  goes  to  my  heart  that  another  night  is  closing 
in  and  you  are  still  out  there  on  the  mountains  !  It  is 
one  month  to-day  since  we  were  taken.  One  whole 
month  you  have  been  under  this  strain  and  stress,  herded 
together  with  the  brigands — eating  their  food,  breathing 
their  atmosphere  and  never  alone  day  or  night.  The 
Lord  would  never  have  allowed  it  if  He  had  not  some 
special  purpose  of  blessing.  He  will  not  let  us  fail 
before  that  purpose  is  worked  out.  If  it  must  take  a 
little  longer,  we  will  draw  the  more  deeply  on  His  grace. 


52          AMONG  CHINESE  BANDITS 

He  is  "  able  to  save  to  the  uttermost."  We  want  Him 
to  use  us  in  this  matter  "  to  the  uttermost,"  do  we  not  ? 
In  some  ways  it  means  so  much  more  suffering  to  you 
than  to  me,  though  not  in  all  ways.  But  whatever  it 
means,  He  will  carry  us  through.  I  do  indeed  pray,  as 
you  ask,  that  on  no  day  you  may  be  tried  beyond  what 
you  are  enabled  to  bear  ;  and  together  we  shall  yet 
praise  Him. 

It  was  a  week  of  turmoil  and  excitement  as  the 
following  extract  from  another  letter  tells  : 

Strange  things  are  happening  here.  We  are  in  the 
throes  of  revolution  and  the  people  are  panic-stricken. 
The  Consulates  and  all  foreign  homes  are  filled  with 
refugees.  Three  ladies  are  in  the  room  below  as  I 
write,  one  a  wealthy  woman  or  girl — only  nineteen — 
whose  husband  is  away  from  the  city.  Boxes  of  treasure 
are  piled  up  in  the  storeroom  across  the  courtyard. 
And  so  it  is  in  all  the  mission-houses.  How  the  people 
trust  us  at  such  times  ! 

Information  has  just  reached  us  that  three  thousand 
soldiers  are  marching  on  the  city  from  the  west,  and  are 
only  ten  miles  distant.  Marshal  T'ang  is  still  fighting 
his  way  up  from  the  south.  Reports  are  conflicting. 
Some  say  he  has  been  held  up  at  one  point.  The 
Consul  thinks  that  this  is  the  case  ;  a  place  two  or  three 
hours  away  on  the  railway.  In  the  midst  of  it  all  our 
hearts  are  kept  in  peace.  The  chief  fear  is  looting  by 
soldiers  and  roughs  of  either  party. 

To  avert  further  fighting  and  the  destruction  of 
the  city,  the  three  Consuls — French,  British  and 


REUNITED  53 

Japanese — decided  to  go  down  the  line,  accompanied 
by  a  deputation  of  fifty  members  of  the  Provincial 
Assembly,  to  find  General  Ku  and  try  to  bring  him 
and  Marshal  T'ang  to  a  peaceful  settlement.  In 
the  first  part  of  their  programme  they  were  success- 
ful, General  Ku  being  willing  to  come  to  terms,  but 
from  Marshal  T'ang  no  answer  was  received  to  their 
telegrams,  and  the  silence  became  ominous.  Finally, 
the  Consuls  thought  it  best  to  return  to  the  city, 
followed  the  next  morning  by  their  fellow-peace- 
makers, who  were  determined  not  to  miss  the  last 
train.  Of  this  we  knew  nothing,  nor  that  one  man 
had  remained  behind — one  man  who  could  not  give 
up  hope  that  something  might  be  done  to  avert 
further  bloodshed. 

That  very  day  it  was,  before  the  disappointed 
delegation  returned  to  the  city,  that  light  had  risen 
for  me  over  the  stormy  horizon.  Concerning  this 
I  wrote  to  my  husband  : 

Early  this  morning  I  had  a  remarkable  assurance  in 
prayer  that  deliverance  was  at  hand.  After  breakfast 
I  mentioned  it  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Allen ;  it  was  so  definite. 
In  the  Psalm  we  had  just  been  reading  the  passage  came : 
"  I  will  give  thanks  unto  Thee  forever,  because  Thou 
hast  done  it."  "  Thou  hast  done  it " — and  already  I 
had  had  the  assurance  that  our  prayers  were  heard  and 
answered,  and  that  you  would  be  with  us  very  soon. 

Yet  never  had  P'u  seemed  more  determined  to 
keep  his  prisoner  until  their  affairs  were  settled  with 
the  Government.  Military  uniforms  to  enable 


54          AMONG  CHINESE  BANDITS 

them  to  police  their  district  properly  were  the 
tangible  evidence  he  required.  Until  these  were 
sent  out,  Dr.  Taylor  could  not  and  should  not  be 
released.  And  the  Government  was  in  the  throes 
of  dissolution  and  unable  to  consummate  the  matter. 
Of  an  interview  with  his  captor  Dr.  Taylor  wrote 
that  very  day,  March  23  : 

He  was  more  cordial  than  ever  and  listened  well,  for 
the  first  time,  to  all  I  had  to  say.  But  alas,  his  decision 
was: 

"  As  soon  as  we  can  doff  this  dress  and  put  on 
uniforms  we  will  escort  you  into  the  city  "  ;  in  other 
words,  "  Wait  till  the  Governor  sends  out  our 
uniforms." 

But  GOD  has  the  last  word.  You  and  we  are  waiting 
upon  Him.  Naturally,  dear  Li  was  a  good  deal  cut  up, 
notwithstanding  his  knowledge  of  these  men.  But  I 
was  enabled  to  keep  an  unperturbed  front,  and  even  to 
be  cheerful  as  P'u's  guest  at  a  big  alfresco  dinner  which 
followed  not  long  after.  "  A  God  Which  worketh," 
while  we  wait  and  wait  on  Him  !  So  now  I  am  just 
awaiting  His  decision  and  His  time. 

And  what  was  happening  down  the  line  that  day, 
where  Dr.  Gordon  Thompson  was  on  his  way  to 
meet  the  advancing  army  ?  Before  they  returned 
to  the  city  the  Consuls  had  given  him  the  flags  of 
their  respective  countries  and  members  of  the 
Provincial  Assembly  had  left  him  their  cards,  so 
that  though  alone  he  was  not  without  credentials. 
As  a  doctor  he  had  joined  the  would-be  peacemakers 


REUNITED  55 

to  see  whether  help  could  be  given  to  the  wounded, 
of  whom  there  were  many  on  both  sides,  and  now 
he  was  impelled  to  go  on  in  his  apparently  hopeless 
mission  by  the  certainty  that  in  answer  to  prayer 
God  would  open  a  way  where  it  seemed  impossible. 
How  to  proceed  he  did  not  know,  nor  how  to  get 
into  touch  with  Marshal  T'ang's  forces.  He  could 
only  wait  and  see  what  God  would  do. 

At  the  city  of  I-liang,  to  which  the  railway  had 
brought  him,  all  was  consternation  because  the 
advance  guard  of  T'ang's  army  might  be  expected 
at  any  time,  and  there  was  sure  to  be  looting  and 
slaughter.  General  Ku  had  retired  and  the  city 
was  unprotected.  The  last  train  had  left  for  the 
capital,  whose  gates  would  soon  be  closed  because 
of  the  enemy,  and  no  way  of  escape  seemed  left. 

Full  of  concern  for  the  distracted  people,  Dr. 
Thompson  was  thinking  and  planning  how  to  help 
them,  when  to  his  surprise  a  train  was  seen  steaming 
up  the  line,  which  proved  to  be  a  "  special."  It 
brought  the  private  car  of  the  Director- General  of 
the  railway,  a  French  gentleman  who  was  glad  to 
obtain  reliable  information  as  to  what  was  transpir- 
ing in  the  capital.  An  hour  later,  news  was  received 
of  a  curiously-clad  army  said  to  be  streaming  across 
the  line  some  five  miles  to  the  south.  They  did 
not  seem  to  be  soldiers,  yet  there  were  thousands  of 
them.  Could  they  be  T'ang's  much-dreaded  allies, 
the  brigands  ?  M.  Chemin  de  Pontesse  thought  he 
would  like  to  see.  In  his  car,  with  the  line  clear 
behind  them,  it  would  be  safe  enough,  and  he  offered 


56          AMONG  CHINESE  BANDITS 

to  take  Dr.  Thompson  if  he  cared  to  accompany 
him.  So  the  way  began  to  open. 

Yes,  they  were  surely  brigands — the  huge  black 
turbans,  leather  doublets,  and  knives  stuck  in  their 
belts  left  no  doubt  as  to  that.  And  there  were  many 
of  them,  advancing  like  an  army.  Seeing  his 
opportunity,  Dr.  Thompson  asked  M.  Chemin  de 
Pontesse  to  allow  him  to  alight  and  make  some 
enquiries  of  the  nearest  group.  His  request  was 
acceded  to,  and  alone,  unarmed  and  unafraid,  he 
approached  the  brigands.  Their  officer  seemed 
friendly  and  answered  all  his  questions.  Yes,  they 
were  Marshal  T'ang's  vanguard  ;  the  army  was 
coming  on  behind.  They  expected  to  be  at  I-liang 
that  night  and  take  the  city. 

Inwardly  shuddering  at  the  thought  of  what  this 
might  mean,  Dr.  Thompson  asked  how  he  could 
see  their  General. 

"  He  is  over  there  at  Keo-kai,"  they  said,  indicat- 
ing a  town  not  far  away. 

So  to  Keo-kai  the  private  car  was  taken,  or  as 
near  as  the  line  permitted  ;  and  when  Dr.  Thompson 
left  it  again  he  was  accompanied  by  the  Director- 
General  of  the  railway.  Together  they  walked 
across  the  fields  and  made  their  way  to  the  market- 
place, where  an  unexpected  sight  met  them.  The 
great  space  in  front  of  the  temple  was  one  mass  of 
men,  some  thousands,  preparing  and  eating  their 
midday  meal,  and  the  proportion  seemed  to  be  two 
bandits  to  every  soldier.  General  Chang  proved 
to  be  reasonable  and  courteous.  He  could  not 


REUNITED  57 

delay  the  advance  of  his  army,  but  he  promised  in 
writing  that  there  should  be  no  looting  at  I-liang. 
He  would  send  messengers  after  his  advance  guard 
and  to  the  city  itself,  to  arrange  for  a  peaceful 
occupation.  Anything  more  than  this  would  have 
to  be  referred  to  his  superior  officer,  General  Hu, 
who  would  reach  the  town  in  a  few  hours. 

After  a  hurried  return  by  train  to  I-liang  to  bring 
the  good  news,  Dr.  Thompson  was  soon  back  at 
Keo-kai,  this  time  in  his  own  "  special,"  to  meet 
General  Hu.  M.  Chemin  de  Pontesse  had  kindly 
put  the  private  car  at  his  disposal,  little  thinking 
what  an  answer  to  prayer  it  was  !  From  8  P.M.  till 
nearly  midnight  the  English  missionary  and  the 
young  General  talked  matters  over,  the  latter  being 
just  as  anxious  as  the  former  to  avoid  further  fighting 
and  bloodshed. 

"  If  you  had  not  come  out  to  meet  us,"  he  said 
earnestly,  "  these  good  arrangements  could  not  have 
been  made." 

Dr.  Thompson  was  to  go  back  in  his  private  car 
to  I-liang  and  telegraph  to  the  Consuls  in  the 
capital,  through  whom  the  answer  of  General 
Ku's  Government  could  be  transmitted  in  the  same 
way. 

"  And  now,"  said  the  soldier  in  parting,  "  you 
have  given  us  such  valuable  help,  is  there  anything 
we  can  do  for  you  personally  ?  " 

"  Well,  yes,  there  is,"  was  the  quiet  reply  from  a 
heart  full  of  rejoicing.  "  My  friend,  Dr.  Howard 
Taylor,  is  in  the  hands  of  P'u  Shu-ming.  He  has 


58          AMONG  CHINESE  BANDITS 

suffered  not  a  little  out  there  on  the  mountains. 
Could  you  give  me  an  order  for  his  immediate 
release  ?  " 

A  quick  look  passed  between  the  General  and 
his  Staff  who  were  standing  round.  They  evidently 
knew  all  about  it. 

"  The  lady  is  not  there,"  remarked  one  of  them. 
"  She  was  sent  into  the  city." 

"  You  deserve  well  of  us,  Dr.  Thompson,"  was 
the  General's  reply.  "  I  will  give  you  the  order  at 
I-liang  to-morrow  morning." 

And  so  it  came  about,  two  days  later,  when 
General  Hu  peacefully  entered  the  capital — only 
regular  troops  with  him — that  Li  Sheng-chii  brought 
out  to  P'u's  headquarters  a  document  which  read 
as  follows  : 

The  English  Dr.  Thompson's  friend,  Pastor  Taylor, 
was  taken  by  your  soldiers  a  few  weeks  ago.  With 
regard  to  our  coming  into  the  city,  Dr.  Thompson  has 
given  us  much  help.  Will  you  therefore  kindly  liberate 
Dr.  Taylor  and  escort  him  safely  into  Yiinnanfu  ?  We 
must  cultivate  friendship  with  the  foreigners  :  please, 
therefore,  carry  out  this  request.  Let  us  hear  of  your 
welfare  from  time  to  time. 

Written  on  the  back  of  a  visiting-card,  and 
stamped  with  a  pocket-seal,  this  communication  was 
not  sufficient  to  accomplish  its  object.  P'u  was 
most  unwilling  to  let  his  captive  go,  and  Marshal 
T'ang,  as  he  reflected,  was  not  yet  in  the  place  of 
power.  "  A  bird  in  the  hand  is  worth  two  in  the 


REUNITED  59 

bush  !  "  So  the  grip,  instead  of  loosening,  tightened 
considerably. 

They  had  come  in  nearer  to  the  city  by  this  time, 
and  Dr.  Taylor  was  eagerly  waiting  the  word  of 
release.  It  was  a  keen  disappointment  therefore, 
that  Saturday  afternoon,  to  find  that  he  was  to  be 
handed  over  to  the  charge  of  a  new  guard.  He 
saw  his  friend  "  General  "  Chang  and  the  others 
who  had  become  so  familiar  file  off  he  knew  not 
whither.  Then,  up  the  stairs  there  stamped  some 
twenty  strangers,  brigands  of  the  roughest  type, 
armed  with  swords  as  well  as  guns  and  with  any 
amount  of  ammunition.  Dropping  their  bundles 
everywhere  they  took  possession  of  the  attic  with 
scant  regard  to  courtesy,  and  it  was  not  easy  just  at 
first  to  be  truly  willing  for  all  that  this  might  mean. 

Then,  only  half  an  hour  later,  "  General  "  P'u 
himself  appeared.  He  came  up  the  ladder-like 
stairs,  smiling  and  friendly. 

"  When  will  you  go  into  the  city,"  he  enquired  ; 
"  to-night  or  to-morrow  morning  ?  " 

"I  do  not  decide  that  matter,"  replied  his 
prisoner  guardedly. 

"  Oh  yes,  suit  your  own  convenience  !  It  shall 
be  whichever  you  prefer." 

"  In  that  case,  I  will  go  to-night,"  was  the  prompt 
reply. 

A  second  order  had  come,  though  the  "  General  " 
did  not  say  so,  a  much  more  impressive  document, 
stamped  with  a  red  seal  three  inches  square.  P'u 
dared  no  longer  hesitate.  And  so  it  came  to  pass 


60          AMONG  CHINESE  BANDITS 

that  as  twilight  fell  the  little  cavalcade  reached  the 
city,  to  be  delayed  at  the  gate  while  the  troops  and 
allies  of  Marshal  T'ang  poured  in — among  them 
the  widow  of  Yang  Tien-fuh  at  the  head  of  his 
brigands,  who  had  just  killed  on  the  battlefield  the 
unfortunate  General  Ku. 

The  next  day  was  Sunday — March  the  twenty- 
sixth — and  a  day  of  rest  and  thanksgiving  indeed  it 
was  !  A  week  later,  as  if  to  complete  the  joy  of  our 
reunion,  a  little  group  of  strangers  came  in  from  the 
mountains,  the  adopted  mother  and  other  relatives 
of  Chang  Shao-wu.  They  had  walked  some  twenty 
miles  to  be  present  at  the  service.  With  tanned 
faces,  picturesque  peasant-dress  and  simple  friendly 
ways,  they  called  forth  the  sympathy  of  the  city 
Christians,  especially  when  they  explained  that  they 
had  promised  "  General "  Chang  to  come  and 
worship,  as  he  could  not  himself  be  present. 

"  He  is  a  Christian,"  they  said,  "  and  we  want  to 
learn  the  Doctrine." 

"  General "  Chang's  erstwhile  prisoner  was 
preaching  that  morning,  and  when  an  invitation  was 
given  to  any  who  would  decide  to  believe  in  and 
follow  the  Lord  Jesus  to  rise  for  prayer,  this  woman 
and  the  two  men  rose  in  their  places  :  and  there  was 
"  joy  in  heaven  ...  in  the  presence  of  the  angels 
of  God  "  as  well  as  in  our  thankful  hearts. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE  MAP  AND   ITS  MEANING 

THE  next  thing  we  knew  about  P'u  and  his  brigands 
was  that  they  were  in  the  service  of  Marshal  T'ang, 
pursuing  the  retreating  forces  of  the  late  Govern- 
ment toward  the  west.  On  one  of  the  main  streets 
of  the  capital,  outside  the  south  gate,  a  huge  flag 
announced  the  headquarters  of  "  General  Wu,"  the 
other  bandit  chief,  who  had  returned  with  the 
widow  of  Yang  Tien-fuh.  So  they  were  reinstated. 
But  brigandage  was  far  from  at  an  end  in  the 
province,  and  Marshal  T'ang  had  no  easy  task 
before  him. 

Our  one  contact  with  him  before  leaving  for  the 
Missionary  Conference  in  Shanghai  was  interesting. 
He  had  enquired  of  the  British  Consul  whether  we 
were  making  any  claims  for  compensation,  and 
seemed  perplexed  on  learning  that  we  were  not,  and 
that  we  should  probably  decline  any  indemnity 
offered  to  us  personally.  Seeing  that  he  would  be 
relieved  if  something  of  this  nature  could  be 
arranged,  the  Consul  suggested  that  there  could  be 
no  difficulty  in  making  a  contribution  to  the  China 
Inland  Mission,  if  he  desired  to  do  so.  This  met 

61 


62          AMONG  CHINESE  BANDITS 

the  situation  and  gave  opportunity  for  quite  a  little 
ceremony.  First  came  the  Governor's  card,  brought 
by  a  special  messenger.  Then  a  thick  packet  of 
notes  arrived,  six  hundred  dollars,  with  more  cards 
and  compliments.  Finally,  the  Commissioner  of 
Foreign  Affairs  appeared  with  profuse  apologies  that 
the  Governor  was  prevented  from  coming  in  person. 

"  Sin-k'u,  sin-k'u,"  he  exclaimed  again  and  again  : 
"  You  have  greatly  suffered,  greatly  suffered  !  " 

He  was  surprised  to  see  us  bright  and  well,  and 
still  more  so  that  we  had  no  complaints  to  make. 
His  friendliness  gave  opportunity  for  telling  of  the 
peace  in  which  our  hearts  had  been  kept,  and  of  the 
joy  of  knowing  the  living  God  as  our  Father,  a  real 
Father,  in  and  through  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  We 
spoke  of  Him  as  an  ever-present  Saviour  and  Friend, 
drawn  on  by  the  interest  with  which  the  Com- 
missioner listened.  Altogether  it  was  an  unusual 
experience,  and  ended  with  an  unusual  request. 
For  when  we  asked  him  to  convey  our  thanks  to 
Marshal  T'ang  for  his  donation,  a  receipt  for  which 
would  be  sent  him  from  the  mission-headquarters 
in  Shanghai,  he  said  earnestly  : 

"  There  is  one  thing  in  which  the  Governor 
would  be  glad  of  your  help.  He  instructed  me  to 
ask  you  to  make  known  to  your  friends  at  the  coast 
his  intention  to  use  every  effort  to  pacify  the  province 
and  put  an  end  to  brigandage.  Please  tell  every- 
body, and  ask  them  to  believe  that  he  is  doing  his 
best  in  this  important  matter." 

To  those  of  us  who  heard  it,  the  request  came  as 


THE  MAP  AND  ITS  MEANING        63 

a  strong  appeal  for  prayer,  an  appeal  one  is  thankful 
to  pass  on.  If  only  this  heathen  Governor,  forceful 
and  ambitious  as  he  is,  could  enter  into  the  new  life 
that  has  come  to  General  Feng,  now  Governor  of 
Honan,  and  thousands  of  his  Christian  officers  and 
men,  brigandage  and  many  other  evils  in  Yunnan 
would  soon  be  conquered.  This  is  what  China 
needs  to  meet  her  problems — lives  changed  from 
within  by  the  only  power  that  can  transform,  the 
power  of  Redeeming  Love.  Meanwhile,  the  con- 
dition in  very  many  places  is  appalling. 

Far  from  improving  since  we  left  the  province, 
brigandage  seems  on  the  increase.  Fresh  robber- 
leaders  have  sprung  up,  and  by  ever  worse  excesses 
have  made  themselves  a  name.  Of  one  of  these,  a 
man  named  Chang,  Mr.  Allen  wrote  in  April : 

He  and  about  thirty  followers  met  a  thousand  of  Ku's 
men  in  a  gully,  scared  them  and  captured  four  quick- 
firing  guns.  In  the  panic  the  soldiers  gave  over  their 
rifles,  about  a  thousand  of  them.  An  officer  was  killed 
and  some  hundreds  of  the  soldiers  joined  Chang,  who 
now  has  a  following  of  about  four  thousand,  nominally 
under  T'ang.  He  is  at  Siao-kai-tsi,  in  the  centre  of  the 
Song-ming-chow  plain.  His  doings  are  execrable. 
Wherever  he  and  his  men  go  the  local  people  have  to 
provide  for  them.  Then  all,  even  the  poor,  have  to 
supply  money,  the  rich  being  mulcted  hundreds  and 
thousands  of  dollars.  He  goes  further  still — for  he  has 
a  prison  there,  at  Siao-kai-tsi,  the  finest  mesh  in  the  net. 
The  oppression  is  perfect.  Horses  and  mules  are  taken 
off  also. 


64          AMONG  CHINESE  BANDITS 

All  this  is  going  on  a  few  miles  only  from  the 
home  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Parker  among  the  Ko-pu 
tribe  in  the  mountains — the  home  from  which  Mr. 
Parker  was  taken  a  few  weeks  after  their  marriage, 
by  P'u  and  his  band,  in  August  1921.  Missionary 
work  in  China  is  costly  in  these  days,  in  many  parts 
of  the  interior.  It  means  exposure  to  such  risks, 
and  to  the  even  greater  dangers  of  civil  war.  The 
strain  upon  not  a  few  of  our  fellow-workers  can 
hardly  be  imagined,  unless  one  has  faced  similar 
conditions.  For  this  reason  among  others  we  are 
thankful  for  the  experiences  that  came  to  us  in 
Yunnan,  and  thankful  to  have  been  enabled  to  tell 
of  them  in  writing.  The  situation  calls  for  practical 
sympathy  and  earnest  prayer,  the  exercise  of  hearts 
in  which  the  Holy  Spirit  is  Himself  interceding. 
For  this  day  of  distress  in  China  is  a  day  of  wonder- 
ful opportunity — opportunity  for  proving  the  keep- 
ing power  of  God  ourselves,  and  for  making  Him 
known  in  this  real  way  to  multitudes  who  turn  to 
us  in  their  extremity.  It  is  surely  a  remarkable  fact 
that,  while  eighty  to  a  hundred  members  of  the 
China  Inland  Mission  are  known  to  have  been  in 
imminent  peril  through  brigandage  or  civil  war 
within  the  last  few  years,  only  one  of  these,  Miss 
Villadsen,  has  lost  her  life  through  violence.  God 
is  unto  us  still  "  a  God  of  deliverances  " ;  but  while 
thankfully  recognising  His  protecting  care,  should 
we  not  feel  our  responsibility  to  strengthen  those 
who  are  at  the  front  of  the  battle  ? 

Think  of  what  it  means  to  parents  with  a  little 


THE  MAP  AND  ITS  MEANING        65 

child  to  pass  through  the  ordeal  told  of  in  the  fol- 
lowing letter.  The  fighting  took  place  after  our 
deliverance,  in  a  district  we  had  previously  visited, 
in  the  neighbouring  province  of  Kweichow.  Only 
the  latter  part  of  the  account  is  given. 

About  eleven  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  3ist 
(March)  we  heard  what  we  took  to  be  the  setting  off  of 
fire-crackers  outside  the  east  gate  of  the  city.  We  soon 
found,  however,  that  it  was  something  more  serious  than 
crackers,  and  that  fighting  had  begun  between  Liu's 
army  and  a  force  that  had  been  sent  from  the  capital  to 
meet  them.  Hard  fighting  continued  for  some  time, 
after  which  Liu's  men  retreated  inside  the  city  and 
closed  the  gates.  The  others  established  themselves 
on  several  hills  outside  the  wall,  from  which  they  were 
able  to  look  down  into  the  city — Anshuen  lying  in  a  sort 
of  nest  among  the  hills. 

Fighting  then  continued  in  earnest,  and  we  began  to 
realise  what  warfare  really  is.  Lead  and  steel  bullets 
came  whizzing  about  us  from  all  quarters  ;  we  had  to 
keep  low  down  to  avoid  them.  Reports  began  to  come 
in  of  this  or  that  civilian  being  killed  or  seriously  injured, 
and  our  compound  was  soon  thronging  with  refugees, 
women  and  children.  The  fighting  continued  like  this 
all  day  and  night,  and  it  seemed  awful  to  those  of  us 
who  had  never  before  had  such  an  experience.  We 
dared  not  venture  upstairs,  and  had  to  sleep  on  the  floor 
even  in  the  downstairs  rooms.  .  .  .  Next  day  brought 
no  change.  Fighting  went  on  as  hard  as  ever,  the 
soldiers  outside  making  a  desperate  attempt  to  get  into 
the  city,  but  without  success.  This  went  on  for  twelve 
days — more  or  less  continuous  fighting — only  it  became 

F 


66          AMONG  CHINESE  BANDITS 

more  frightful  when  the  heavy  artillery  sent  from  the 
capital  began  to  get  into  action.  The  report  of  those 
guns  outside  the  city  sent  a  shiver  through  one  every 
time  they  were  fired,  and  very  often  bullets  came 
dangerously  near.  One  evening,  while  Mrs.  Sclichter 
was  in  a  room  considered  to  be  the  safest  in  the  house, 
a  huge  shot  from  one  of  these  guns  struck  the  verandah 
outside,  not  two  feet  from  where  she  was  sitting.  .  .  . 
Several  smashed  into  the  bedrooms  and  other  parts  of 
the  house.  .  .  . 

During  this  time  we  were  exposed  to  other  dangers 
than  that  of  shot  and  shell,  for  General  Liu  had  hired 
robber  bands  to  help  him,  and  there  was  grave  fear  of 
these  men  breaking  out  and  looting  the  city.  In  fact 
they  did  begin,  and  it  was  only  by  prompt  action  on  the 
part  of  the  military  that  they  were  restrained.  Several 
of  the  offenders  were  put  to  death  in  various  ways,  right 
on  the  public  thoroughfare,  as  a  warning  to  others.  .  .  . 

We  thank  God  for  the  privilege  we  had  of  giving  the 
Gospel  to  the  refugees  who  were  in  our  premises 
through  all  the  fighting,  and  pray  that  the  seed  sown  at 
that  time  may  have  fallen  into  good  ground.  The  cir- 
cumstances that  had  brought  them  in  made  them  the  more 
ready  to  listen,  and  not  a  few  said  they  were  sure  it  was 
our  God  who  had  preserved  them  all  from  injury.  .  .  . 

While  praising  God  for  His  preserving  care,  we  deeply 
felt  for  those  who  were  not  thus  protected.  Other 
robber  bands,  hired  by  General  Liu  in  the  neighbouring 
province  of  Kwangsi  to  come  over  and  help  him,  arrived 
too  late  to  be  of  use.  While  at  Hingi,  a  city  several 
days'  journey  from  here,  word  was  sent  to  them  that  the 
fighting  was  over — which  meant,  I  suppose,  that  they 
were  to  return  to  their  place.  They  were  not  to  be 


THE  MAP  AND  ITS  MEANING        67 

treated  like  this,  however.  So  they  locked  all  the  city 
gates  at  Hingi,  and  commenced  to  plunder.  They  went 
over  the  city  several  times,  to  be  sure  that  they  had  got 
everything  of  value,  and  then  carried  away  with  them 
several  hundred  young  women  and  girls,  whom  they 
handled  as  so  much  baggage,  tying  them  with  ropes 
to  their  horses'  saddles.  They  also  captured  members 
of  some  of  the  wealthy  families  in  the  neighbourhood, 
whom  they  are  holding  to  ransom. 

Poor  China — cursed  by  the  militarism  in  which 
she  glories,  with  the  largest  standing  army  in  the 
world  and  no  power  to  restrain  the  greed  and 
selfishness  that  are  using  it  for  her  destruction, 
did  she  ever  need  our  prayers  and  efforts  more  than 
in  her  present  distress  ?  Again  would  we  em- 
phasise it,  now  is  the  day  of  our  opportunity.  Doors 
are  open  to  us  on  all  hands.  Whole  districts  seem 
ready  to  embrace  the  Christian  faith  ;  and  while 
such  mass-movements  are  fraught  with  danger  to 
the  Church  they  lay  upon  us  a  solemn  responsibility 
as  "  put  in  trust  with  the  Gospel."  Never  have  we 
seen  fields  white  to  harvest  as  they  are  to-day  in 
Yunnan,  in  the  districts  north  and  south  of  the 
capital.  The  map  prepared  for  this  little  book 
speaks  volumes,  if  only  its  voice  can  be  heard  (for 
map,  see  pocket  in  Cover). 

It  tells  of  a  wonderful  work  already  accomplished, 
of  an  amazing  advance  made  in  the  last  ten  years, 
and  of  openings  that  surely  are  the  call  of  God  to 
some  who  will  read  these  pages.  What  shall  we 
say  of  the  fact  that  twenty  of  those  cities  marked  as 


68          AMONG  CHINESE  BANDITS 

black  squares  on  the  map  are  still  without  any 
resident  missionary  ?  They  are  all  governing  cities, 
and  with  the  counties  they  control  have  an  average 
population  of  a  quarter  of  a  million  each.  The 
C.I.M.  field,  to  which  most  of  them  belong,  includes 
also  the  mountainous  district  to  the  north  of  the 
map,  scattered  over  with  those  coloured  dots  that 
represent  the  thousands  of  Tribes-people  (aboriginal, 
not  Chinese)  who  within  recent  years  have  "  turned 
to  God  from  idols,  to  serve  the  living  and  true  God 
and  to  wait  for  His  Son  from  heaven." 

Sixteen  years  ago  not  one  Christian  was  to  be 
found  where  those  dots  appear  to-day.  The  music 
of  the  Name  of  Jesus  had  never  reached  those  far- 
off  hills  and  valleys.  Sunk  in  drunkenness  and  un- 
thinkable immorality,  the  mountain-people  feared 
and  hated  the  demons  they  worshipped  and  the 
Chinese  landlords  who  oppressed  them,  and  knew 
nothing  of  any  earthly  much  less  heavenly  friend. 
Then  they  began  to  hear  of  other  Tribes-people, 
six  days'  journey  to  the  east,  who  had  found  "  the 
Miao  King,"  as  they  called  Him,  the  great  Friend 
and  Saviour.  How  wonderful  the  changes  He  had 
wrought !  Glad  tidings  had  come  to  the  Miao 
people,  and  they  wanted  to  know  all  about  it.  This 
was  the  beginning  of  the  marvellous  movement  that 
has  spread  and  is  spreading  from  tribe  to  tribe  across 
the  field  of  this  map,  and  promises  to  sweep  on — 
"  God's  great  prairie  fire  " — lighting  up  the  darkness 
in  which  millions  are  still  waiting. 

But  to  return  to  the  Chinese  population  of  the 


THE  MAP  AND  ITS  MEANING        69 

district  and  the  C.I.M.  work  in  and  around 
Yiinnanfu.  Ten  years  ago  we  had  only  thirty-one 
names  on  the  church-roll  on  that  centre.  It  had 
always  been  a  hard  field,  and  the  work  was  practically 
restricted  to  the  capital.  Now,  in  addition  to  the 
mother-church,  there  are  no  fewer  than  forty-two 
outstations,  with  thirteen  hundred  and  fifty  baptized 
believers,  won — first  and  most  of  all — by  unremit- 
ting prayer.  Ten  years  ago  there  was  only  one 
Chinese  evangelist  associated  with  the  missionary- 
in-charge.  Now,  Mr.  Allen  rejoices  in  a  band  of 
twenty  full-time  helpers,  several  of  whom  have 
wives  who  are  earnest  workers  among  the  women. 

Listen  to  what  he  says  of  one  of  these  evangelists, 
a  man  with  a  large  prayer -life  and  remarkable 
capacity  for  work.  "  For  zeal,  love,  clear-headed- 
ness, faithfulness — at-it  and  always  at-it — he  would 
be  hard  to  beat.  He  superintends  the  work  up 
north  :  a  poor  preacher,  but  a  great  soul-winner. 
He  has  the  nimblest  of  pens  and  enriches  the  Chinese 
Government  by  the  stamps  he  uses,  never  letting 
more  than  two  or  three  days  pass  without  giving 
detailed  news  of  the  great  things  the  Lord  is  doing. 
In  his  movements  he  is  mobile  as  cavalry,  but,  with 
his  companions,  always  goes  on  foot,  rain,  hail  or 
shine,  over  such  roads  as  were  only  known  in  pre- 
macadamised  days  at  home.  He  not  only  works 
himself,  but  gets  everybody  else  working." 

The  value  of  such  a  man  is  incalculable.  Another 
of  whom  their  missionary  tells  is  "  a  great  street- 
preacher,  and  never  fails  to  gather  a  crowd.  He  has 


70          AMONG  CHINESE  BANDITS 

a  voice  like  a  trumpet,  is  a  good  singer,  and  preaches 
Christ  for  all  he  is  worth.  He  is  young,  fiery,  a 
true  labourer  in  the  Gospel,  thinks  nothing  of  walk- 
ing thirty  miles,  carrying  a  heavy  book-bag  and 
taking  an  hour  and  a  half's  service  at  the  end." 

Another  is  "no  scholar  but  a  true  Greatheart, 
with  a  remarkable  capacity  for  loving  and  serving 
others,  linked  with  a  real  prayer-life.  No  distance 
is  too  long,  no  weather  too  inclement,  no  hours  too 
early  or  too  late,  if  only  he  can  lead  a  soul  to  the 
Saviour,  or  in  any  way  help  those  who  have  believed. 
The  secret  of  his  success  is  the  patient,  loving 
interest  he  takes  in  all  who  come  within  the  circle 
of  his  influence.  No  matter  how  important  a  man 
may  be,  or  how  poor  and  ignorant,  our  preachers 
take  it  as  a  matter  of  fact  that  the  Gospel  is  needed 
by  all  alike.  These  workers  have  their  limitations, 
but  they  realise  that  the  Gospel  has  no  limitations. 
I  have  just  copied  out  a  list  of  two  hundred  and  fifty 
names  of  those  who  have  enrolled  themselves  as 
encfuirers  in  the  two  cities  in  which  Mr.  Liang 
(Greatheart)  is  working,  some  from  villages  quite  a 
long  way  off.  Among  these  varied  hearers  will  be 
many  who  will '  go  on  unto  perfection.'  ' 

Content  to  be  poor,  these  evangelists  receive 
small  salaries  and  run  big  risks  in  their  varied 
service.  As  we  have  good  cause  to  know,  they  do 
not  count  their  lives  dear  to  them  in  following  the 
Master.  Can  any  privilege  be  greater  than  to  work 
with  such  men  in  such  a  field  ?  They  are  doing 
all  they  can,  with  but  little  training,  to  reach  the 


71 

millions  of  their  extensive  parish.  But  think  how 
much  they  need  more  help,  more  teaching,  more 
workers,  especially  among  the  women  !  Here  is  a 
typical  city  in  which  one  or  other  of  them  is  usually 
to  be  found— Tong-hai,  near  its  beautiful  lake.  It 
represents  approximately  a  quarter  of  a  million 
people,  and  is  busy,  wealthy  and  very  idolatrous. 
Temples  are  to  be  found  on  nearly  every  street,  from 
the  city  wall  right  up  to  the  wooded  hill  which  over- 
looks the  lake,  temple  after  temple,  attracting  great 
numbers  of  worshippers.  The  lake  is  surrounded 
by  numerous  villages  and  busy  market-towns.  Only 
ten  miles  away  is  another  governing  city,  and  five 
others  dot  that  southern  part  of  the  map.  What  a 
sphere  for  a  young  missionary  with  life  before  him 
and  a  sacred  ambition  to  preach  Christ  where  He 
has  scarce  been  named  !  Several  of  those  five 
cities  would  make  a  centre  from  which  a  great  work 
might  be  done  among  the  Tribes-people  in  that 
southern  part  of  the  district,  who  are  very  numerous 
but  have  no  missionary  among  them.  Deeply 
heart-moving  it  is  to  hear  of  the  work  God  Himself 
is  doing  in  that  region,  a  work  of  the  Spirit  which 
"  many  waters  "  of  persecution  and  suffering  cannot 
quench. 

"  If  you  want  to  go  to  heaven  in  anticipation," 
Mr.  Allen  said  in  speaking  of  it,  "  just  go  to  A-ko-i 
and  see  the  love  and  joy  of  those  dear  Christians  !  " 

Yet  many  of  them  have  been  robbed,  beaten,  and 
some  even  killed  by  their  persecutors.  A  man  called 
of  God  to  that  work  would  find  a  fruitful  and  hardly 


72 

touched  field  in  the  thousands  and  thousands  of 
Tribes-people  in  that  district,  north,  south  and 
west  of  Ta-ko-tsu,  where  we  have  about  a  hundred 
and  fifty  baptized  believers  already.  The  work  is 
calling  for  the  worker.  Is  the  Lord  of  the  Harvest 
waiting  for  you  to  say,  "  Here  am  I,  send  me  ?  " 

Then,  south  of  the  great  lake  on  which  the  capital 
is  situated,  what  can  one  write  of  the  populous 
plain  around  Peh-chen  ?  Fully  half  a  million  people 
live  within  a  day's  journey  of  that  busy  market- 
town,  not  counting  the  Tribes-folk  who  come  down 
freely  from  the  mountains.  Yet  there  is  no  mis- 
sionary settled  among  them — no  woman  even,  giving 
herself  to  the  work  to  be  done  in  those  hundreds  of 
villages  where  the  women  are  accessible  and  friendly, 
just  waiting  to  be  won. 

And  so  one  might  go  on  all  over  the  district,  and 
back  to  the  Tribal  region  in  the  north,  where  the 
needs  are  even  more  pressing.  If  the  fact  that  God 
has  gone  out  before  us  and  that  men  and  women  are 
needed  to  follow  up  the  manifest  working  of  His 
Spirit  constitutes  a  call,  surely  there  must  be  many 
whose  life-work  is  waiting  them  in  this  sphere, 
whether  they  know  it  yet  or  not.  Look  more  closely 
at  the  dots  scattered  over  those  mountains  and 
valleys,  right  up  to  the  Yangtze  river  and  beyond. 
The  different  colours  represent  different  tribes,  more 
of  which  are  continually  stretching  out  eager  hands 
to  us  with  the  cry,  "  Come  over  and  help  us."  Four 
centres  have  been  occupied  north  of  Yiinnanfu,  and 
many  more  will  be  needed,  for  the  Tribes-people 


THE  MAP  AND  ITS  MEANING        73 

to  be  reached  are  numbered  by  millions.  If  you 
were  the  one  missionary  at  either  of  these  centres, 
with  hundreds  of  Christians  to  look  after,  hundreds 
of  children  needing  education  and  thousands  of 
enquirers,  what  could  you  do  but  cry  to  God  for 
Spirit-filled  workers,  men  and  women  to  share  the 
arduous  labour  and  its  eternal  reward  ?  Every  one 
of  those  dots  represents  a  little  light-spot  in  the 
darkness,  one  or  more  Christians  among  the  vast 
majority  yet  unreached.  Think  of  the  need  of 
missionaries  qualified  to  train  teachers  for  the  schools 
that  ought  to  be  opened  ;  missionaries  to  live  among 
and  uplift  the  women  ;  missionaries  to  create  a 
Christian  literature,  to  send  forth  the  Scriptures  in 
languages  never  yet  reduced  to  writing.  Have  you 
the  gifts  of  physical  strength  and  mental  fitness  that 
the  Lord  could  use  if  consecrated  to  Him  for  this 
work — work  angels  might  well  envy  ? 

Of  one  who  was  the  first  to  preach  Christ  to  the 
mountain  -  people  of  this  region  and  is  still  the 
Apostle  of  the  Miao  tribe,  represented  by  these  red 
dots,  a  fellow-missionary  of  another  society  wrote 
from  personal  knowledge  : 

Loved  and  trusted  by  multitudes,  despised  and  hated 
by  many,  cut  off  from  the  comforts  and  pleasures  of 
civilisation,  facing  a  thousand  and  one  dangers,  healing 
the  sick,  teaching  the  ignorant,  comforting  the  bereaved, 
playing  with  the  children,  stamping  out  drink  and 
opium,  fighting  the  demon  of  impurity,  showing  a  timid 
people  how  to  be  self-reliant  and  enterprising,  and  re- 
turning to  his  headquarters  every  few  weeks  like  a  man 


74          AMONG  CHINESE  BANDITS 

who  has  been  touching  the  very  bedrock  of  humanity, 
Arthur  Nicholls  goes  on  his  way  little  thinking  what  a 
hero  he  is,  and  counting  himself  repaid  over  and  over 
again  because  the  people  love  him.  I  wonder  what  the 
Master  will  by-and-by  say  to  these  brave  workers  ? 

Then,  running  your  eye  once  more  over  the  map, 
think  of  the  leaders  needed — Chinese  as  well  as 
Miao  and  Nosu,  Ko-pu,  Laka,  and  others — to  supply 
this  great  and  growing  Church  with  pastors, 
evangelists  and  Bible  teachers,  both  men  and 
women.  Could  any  privilege  be  greater  than  to 
train  such  workers  ?  And  here  let  me  share  with 
you  a  hope  that  shines  brightly,  or  shall  I  say  a 
burden  that  presses  heavily  on  some  of  our  hearts  ? 
How  could  the  Lord  of  the  Harvest  make  it  more 
plain  that  a  Bible  Training  School  should  be  opened 
for  this  very  purpose  than  by  supplying  the  people 
to  be  trained,  the  premises  in  which  to  receive  them 
and  the  Chinese  head  for  such  a  school,  a  man 
spiritually  earmarked  for  just  that  work  ?  Bible 
Schools  there  are  in  China  that  are  closed  for  lack 
of  students  ;  would-be  students  there  are  who  have 
no  building  to  meet  in  ;  missionaries  there  are  who 
would  give  almost  anything  for  a  spiritually-minded 
Chinese  fellow-worker.  If  in  Yiinnanfu  we  have 
all  three,  how  is  it  that  the  Bible  School  is  a  hope 
still  unrealised  ?  Because — and  will  you  take  it  on 
your  heart  in  prayer  ? — the  missionary  has  not  yet 
been  found  to  supplement  that  Chinese  fellow- 
worker. 

Let  me  tell  you  a  little  about  the  latter.    He  was 


THE  MAP  AND  ITS  MEANING        75 

an  officer,  high  up  in  Suen  Yat-sen's  army.  Con- 
verted in  a  distant  part  of  China,  he  withdrew  from 
Government  service,  and  by  a  series  of  remarkable 
providences  became  connected  with  the  C.I.M. 
in  Yunnan.  As  a  student  he  had  spent  several  years 
in  Japan,  where  he  was  carried  away  by  agnosticism 
and  philosophy,  but  his  conversion  had  been  a  deep 
work  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  his  subsequent  experi- 
ences have  prepared  him  for  great  usefulness.  Two 
years  in  the  Alliance  Bible  School  at  Wu-chow  have 
fitted  him  to  teach  and  help  others,  but  though  he 
is  a  scholar  of  no  mean  order  and  a  man  of  an 
unusual  prayer-life,  he  lacks  certain  elements  of 
leadership  which  in  a  large  work  are  indispensable. 
Meanwhile  a  little  beginning  has  been  made. 
Are  you,  perhaps,  the  one  whom  God  has  been 
preparing  to  take  up  this  work  with  its  far-reaching 
possibilities  ? 

"  But,"  some  one  may  say,  "  you  write  as  if  the 
province  were  safe  and  peaceful,  after  telling  of  the 
awful  conditions  due  to  civil  war  and  brigandage." 

Yes,  it  is  well  to  be  reminded  that  these  are  days 
in  which  we  must  count  the  cost.  It  always  costs 
to  have  God's  best,  to  follow  the  Master  "  whither- 
soever He  goeth."  But  having  counted  the  cost, 
can  we  not  leave  it  all  with  Him  ?  He  can  and  will 
open  the  way  for  any  service  to  which  He  is  calling. 
The  privilege  may  still  be  ours  of  not  counting  any 
cost  as  great,  if  we  may  but  "  know  Him,  and  the 
power  of  His  resurrection,  and  the  fellowship  of 
His  sufferings." 


76          AMONG  CHINESE  BANDITS 

To  all  eternity  we  shall  be  able  to  serve  our 
blessed  Lord  and  Master  far  better  than  we  can 
down  here.  "  His  servants  shall  serve  Him  and 
they  shall  see  His  face."  But  shall  we  ever  be  able 
to  suffer  for  Him  again  ?  Shall  we  ever  be  able  to 
sacrifice  things  that  are  "  gain  "  to  us,  the  highest, 
best  things  in  our  life,  for  love  of  Him  ?  When 
the  last  tears  are  wiped  away  and  sin  and  suffering 
are  no  more,  shall  we  be  able  to  face  loneliness, 
poverty,  danger,  as  we  may  now  for  His  dear  sake  ? 
To  all  eternity  we  shall  share  His  glory,  His  riches, 
His  throne.  Only  now  can  we  share  the  deeper 
things — His  tears,  His  cross.  Would  we  really  miss 
this  fellowship  for  any  little  passing  gain — nay,  for 
the  best,  the  very  best  the  world  can  give  ?  These 
things  are  nothing  if  not  real  and  practical.  Think- 
ing over  this  map,  praying  over  this  map,  what  do 
they  mean  for  you  and  me  ? 1 

1  Compare,  in  Phil.  ii.  4-8  and  iii.  7-15,  the  mind  of  Christ, 
the  mind  of  Paul,  and  the  mind  which  it  is  promised  shall  be 
in  us  :  "  God  shall  reveal  even  this  unto  you." 


THE  END 


Printed  in  Grtat  Britain  by  R.  &  R.  CLARK,  I.IMITKD,  Edinburgh. 


Hudson  Taylor  in  Early  Years* 

By  Dr.  and  Mrs.  HOWARD  TAYLOR. 
7/6  net.     $2.25. 


By  Dr.  and  Mrs.  HOWARD  TAYLOR. 

9/-  net.     I2.6O. 

Two  Volumes  in  One,  15/-  net. 

Pastor  HsL 

One  of  China's  Scholars. 
2/6  net.     75  cents. 

Pastor  HsL 

One  of  China's  Christians. 
2/6  net.     75  cents. 

Both  by  Mrs.  HOWARD  TAYLOR. 

Two  Volumes  in  One,  6/-  net.     Cloth. 

Pearl's  Secret. 

By  Mrs.  HOWARD  TAYLOR. 

2/6  net.     75  cents. 

i 


In  Quest  of  God — the  Life  Story 
of  Pastors  Chang  and  Ch'u, 

Buddhist  Priest  and  Chinese  Scholar. 

By  MARSHALL  BROOMHALL,  MA 

Crown  octavo.     200  pages.     Illustrated. 

Bound  in  Cloth  and  Gold,  5/-  net.     $1.25. 

Paper-bound  Edition,  3/6  net.     SO  cents. 

Hudson  Taylor- 
the  Man  who  Dared. 

Told  for  Young  People. 

By  MARSHALL  BROOMHALL,  M.A. 

I/-  net.     5O  cents. 

The  Old  Paths  in  the  Light  of 
Modern  Thought* 

By  Rev.  J.  RUSSELL  HOWDEN,  B.D. 

Crown  octavo.     100  pages.     Indexed. 

Bound  in  Cloth  and  Gold,  3/6  net.     61. OO. 

Paper-bound  Edition,  2/6  net.     65  cents. 

The  Crescent  in  North-West 
China* 

By  G.  FINDLAY  ANDREW,  O.B.E. 
Illustrated.     Cloth,  3/6  net. 


2 


By  A.  MILDRED  CABLE. 
2/6  net.     75  cents. 


The  Songs  of  Pastor  HsL 

Translated  from  the  Chinese  by 

FRANCESCA  FRENCH. 

I/-  net.     3O  cents. 

A  Vision  of  No  Man's  Land* 

.A  True  Incident  in  the  Late  War. 

By  SENIOR  SUBALTERN. 

I/-  net. 

A  Retrospect* 

By  J.  HUDSON  TAYLOR. 
I/-  net,     25  cents. 

Union  and  Communion* 

By  J.  HUDSON  TAYLOR. 
Bound  in  Cloth,  2/-«     Paper-bound  Edition,  1/3. 

Everlasting  PearL 

One  of  China's  Women. 

By  Miss  JOHANNSEN. 

3/6  net.     6O  cents. 

3 


Heirs  Together 

Of  the  Grace  of  Life. 

BENJAMIN  BROOMHALL 
AMELIA  HUDSON  BROOMHALL. 

By  their  Son 
(MARSHALL  BROOMHALL,  M.A.) 

Eight  Illustrations. 
3/6  net.     $1.25.     Cheap  Edition,  1/6  net.     5O  cents. 

Islam  in  China* 

By  MARSHALL  BROOMHALL,  M.A. 
7/6  net.     $1.5O. 

Complete  Atlas  of  China* 

21 /-  net. 

China's  Millions* 

The  Organ  of  the  China  Inland  Mission. 
2/6  per  Annum.      81. OO. 

C*LM*  Annual  Report* 

"  China  and  the  Gospel." 

May  be  had  on  application  to  the  Secretary. 
4 


University  of  California 

SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 

405  Hilgard  Avenue,  Los  Angeles,  CA  90024-1388 

Return  this  material  to  the  library 

from  which  it  was  borrowed. 


1991 


maurv 


A  000  Q!I^'" 


